Scrapbook Memories
by J. Lucy-Daisuke
Summary: Fifth story up. Extra stuff from the Picture, the Promise and the Protectors, Dragons & Phoenixes, Fathers & Daughters, Shadows of the Legends and View from the Storms Eye. See profile for link mentioned in new story
1. Overture for Les Miserables

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Lupin III characters, although I have the feeling that I should be on payroll by now…

Hey, everybody!

You know how if you're making a scrapbook, you usually have leftover bits? Paper scraps, glitter, etc., etc.? Well, these are basically the scraps that have come from the Lupin series I've been writing over the past two years… It's good if you've got a good hold on the characters and their stories before you read these… What this basically is is what would be the second disc of a DVD set… It's the extras that have come from production… It's a series of short stories, ideas I've had floating about but have no idea where to put them. I'm not sure how often this will be updated, or what order it'll be in, or how long it'll be… But I'll be sure to give an explanation at the beginning of each story, so don't worry! Thank you for reading this, and I hope you enjoy!

Story one: Overture for Les Miserables

Summary: The exact events leading up to Ari Lupin's conversion to Leo LeBlanc. It's referred to constantly in the third and forth series, and, well, here's the actual story for the first time, anywhere. This was never included because, well, it'd take up too much time, and it'd even slow down the pace of the story. Plus, the story started out two years after this happened, so the flashbacks would've been a pain to go back and forth to.

Paris:

"I can't believe that we're doing something so juvenile, Ari!" Fuji gave a long chuckle as she looked over the plans. "A bank robbery? That's so beneath both of us!"

Arsène Lupin the Forth looked above his glasses at his sister, and glared, "You have any better ideas, Fuji? This bank's full of jewels—Enough to make even the Queen of England drool…"

"Well, you give the word, and I'll be on it," Ally said with strong confidence to his best friend and only confidant.

"Thank you for your support, Ally," Ari nodded, and turned his attention back to the floor plan. "So Dori goes to opening the safe while Ryoko leads everyone out… Heiji, I want you to give Odori directions as to the exact location of the jewels, okay?"

"You got it, chief," Heiji muttered as he typed away frantically at his computer, as usual.

"What do I do, oh Great One?" Fuji asked teasingly as she poked her brother in the shoulder playfully.

"That's simple—We get the jewels," replied Ari as he rolled up the plans and tossed them to Heiji. At that moment Ryo walked out, dressed as a respectable bank customer, "Hm, Ryo, tardy as usual…."

"Hm, I'll make up for it after school, Teacher," Ryo replied as she wrapped an arm about Ari's waist and kissed him. "I don't think I missed much… I heard you from the bathroom…"

"Good, then it's set—We go in the morning," Ari announced, and then walked out of the Lupin living room with Ryo at his side. "Get a lot of rest, everyone!" he called out to his gang as he walked up the stairs with Ryo.

Later that Night:

Ryo turned in bed, having been woken up by some unknown sound. She winced as she saw a reading light was still on, and she looked up at Ari, who was reading a thick book, as he always did. He wore his reading glasses, which surprised Ryo; he usually tried to avoid wearing them. "Watcha readin' there, Hon?" Ryo asked as she sat up in bed and looked down at the strange foreign language spread on the page.

"_Les Miserables_, by Victor Hugo," replied Ari.

"Victor, eck… Makes me think of that jackass cousin of yours…" Ryo muttered, "What's it about?"

"A guy who makes a simple mistake, runs away, changes his name and everything, and is still chased to the ends of the earth by a past he can't escape…. It's kinda sad, if you think…"

"Don't do the crime if you ain't willin' to do the time," Ryo replied as she stretched in bed; she was still exhausted, but she wouldn't be able to sleep as long as that reading light was going.

"Well, he did go to jail, but… It's a long story…" replied Ari with a shake of the head. He set the book aside and turned off the reading light, "He even ends up adopting a little girl!"

"Hmm… You're hinting at something again, aren't you?" Ryo asked with a small smile. She gripped onto his hand and looked down at him sincerely, "I'm sorry that we're having such a time getting a baby…."

"It's okay," Ari sighed as he lied down in the bed. "Maybe we aren't ready… We're doing everything right!"

"Heh, my Daddy would kill me if I got pregnant before I was married…" Ryo said with a wry chuckle.

"We're getting married this weekend, I don't think the old man'll complain about days…" replied Ari with a yawn, "He's desperate to get Yukiko married off…"

"Yeah, but that's because she takes after him. She's a heavy drinker, and a smoker—But don't tell Daddy about the smoking part, he'd kill her!"

"You have my word," replied Ari with a yawn. "….I can't sleep…."

"That's funny; you usually sleep like a rock!"

"I know, but I just have this really, really bad feeling about tomorrow…." said Ari worriedly.

"Don't; it'll be okay," Ryo lied down next to him and kissed him on the cheek. "If anything does happen, we'll get through it together…"

"Ryoko, can I tell you something, and you promise you won't tell?" asked Ari in a whisper.

"Sure thing…" Ryo replied.

"I don't think like being a thief… I know it's weird, but I think it's… I don't know; I'm torn on it…"

"You don't know anything else, though, Baby. What would you do if you weren't a thief, huh? Become a butcher?"

"I don't know, I thought about teaching…"

"Heh, your parents would hit the roof; the only way you could shock your dad more is if you came out and said you were gay."

"Well I highly doubt that," Ari laughed, turned his head to Ryo, and kissed her. "How about I look after the kids, huh? I could stay at home, and you could go out and thieve… You love doing that sort of stuff!"

"….Are you sure you aren't adopted?"

"I just don't know sometimes… I feel weird in my family…" Ari admitted with a wry laugh.

"Just try to get some sleep, okay? It'll all work out fine… We're going to get those jewels, we're going to get married, and we're going to start a family, with lots of little Lupins running around everywhere, all right?"

"Yeah," Ari nodded, and tried to fall asleep, but found it to be next to impossible.

The Very Next Day, After the Heist:

The jewel heist had done as poorly as possible. No one said a single word to one another, especially Ari, who was still stunned over the ordeal, and still covered in blood. He reeked of copper.

A guard, he had killed a guard. It had been while he was saving Fuji, true, but he had still killed a man. Odori, Heiji and Fuji all sat in the back seat while Ryo drove home, a pale and shaking Ari next to her. Next to Ari sat Ally, who going through a wide range of emotions as he watched the person who had had secretly looked up to for so long babble like a small child and twitch nervously.

When they arrived home, Ally had to help Ari into the house; Fujiko had sent a vase she had been dusting crashing to the ground when she saw all of the blood staining Ari. She looked at the group questioningly, and Fuji led her mother into the kitchen for privacy. Ryo led Ari into the bathroom, and began to undo his blood-stained clothes. His red jacket now was a deeper crimson. The blood had soaked through, and it was all over his face, his chest… His hands. She turned on the shower, and helped him in. Ari asked Ryo quietly for some privacy, and she nodded, and left, only coming back once to leave a set of pajamas.

"How's he doing?" asked Lupin as Ryo walked down the stairway and into the living room.

"The lights are on, but no one's home," Ryo replied as she seated herself on the couch and looked into the burning fire. She then silently walked up to the bathroom again, and brought down Ari's bloody clothes, and tossed them into the fire while the Lupin the Fourth gang and Lupin and Fujiko watched.

"He just needs some rest… Even Jigen threw up the first time he had to kill someone," Lupin sighed as he looked up at the stairwell.

"Dad, I hope you're right," Fuji said to herself. She heard the shower shut off, and the bathroom door open, and she walked up the stairs to find her brother outside his door, his head against the door. He was staring straight ahead, and what really frightened her was that he had absolutely no expression on his face. Fuji tapped him on the shoulder, and Ari jumped nearly three feet into the air.

"Relax, Ari, it's just me," Fuji said in a reassuring whisper, a rare tone for her. "You just need a nap, okay?"

"Okay," Ari muttered, and shuffled in as Fuji turned on his light and led him into his bedroom. She fluffed his pillows for him, and eased him back into the bed.

"If you need anything, just call…" said Fuji. She put on his radio for him, and exited.

"Dad, he looks _bad_," said Fuji worriedly as she walked down the stairs and into the living room. She then led her father away from her mother, and said to him in a whisper. "He looks like he could off himself at any moment. I think we should have someone in there all the time, at least for the first few days…"

"Fuji, how the hell bad was it?" asked Lupin.

"That guard's wife and daughter were outside of the scene when we left," replied Fuji. "Ari saw the little girl, and you know how he is with kids…"

"Fuj, it might be that bad, but I don't think we need him on a suicide watch!" Lupin said with a shaky laugh.

"Then where's his gun at? I want to keep it on me," said Fuji. "That and you and I both know he keeps a collection of knives. I think we should lock those away for now…"

"That's going a little far, Fuji… He'll just think that we think he's crazy!"

"Dad, have you looked at him—He's had a total mental breakdown!" snapped Fuji in a scream. Lupin jerked his head back in surprise; his daughter, in twenty-one years, had never, ever yelled at him, especially not in a tone like this. "I know I sound out of character for saying this, but put your pride on the shelf for once! My big brother's up there with a look that makes him look like an extra for a zombie movie!"

"All right…" Lupin grumbled, "I keep first watch, though." He shook his head, and stomped up the stairs, walking into Ari's room. He was nearly floored when he saw Ari for himself; perhaps Fuji was right, after all. He seated himself next to Ari, and put a hand on his son's knee. "Eh, hey there, Champ… Um… I'm going to stay here in case you need anything…"

"You're here to make sure I don't kill myself, aren't you?" Ari said accusingly to his father.

"Um… Let's see if there's any sports on TV!" Lupin took the remote, and turned on the television to the worst possible program; the news. Ari was the main story of the evening. He quickly flipped off the TV and then tossed the remote aside. "How about cards?"

"Dad, I just really want to sleep right now," said Ari, closing his eyes.

"Okay… Yeah, you just rest now…" Lupin sat back in his chair, and closed his own eyes.

Three Days Later:

Ari was now out of bed now, and talking again, but Lupin still thought he was talking crazy talk. He was submitted to more of the maniac raving as Ari stood in front of him in the living room, talking frantically. Jigen and Goemon were there as well, having arrived for the wedding. Next to Jigen sat Ming; Amaya had gone the take care of the children, and Fujiko really didn't want to be there. Zenigata and Natasha could not attend; they were having troubles with their own son, Max. The week before, Max had been pulled out of his rabbinical school, and no one would give details as to why, but Lupin had the feeling it was bad.

"A break? This isn't a job—It's a lifestyle, Ari," Lupin said with a smile which clearly meant he didn't understand his son.

"Well, I want a break from this lifestyle!" Ari snapped, "There's got to be more to life than this!"

"Do you know how many people would friggin' kill for your life?" Lupin shouted, bolting up to his feet angrily.

"Do you know how many people I've friggin' killed for this life?" Ari shouted in retort. Ming looked upward and noticed the chandelier was beginning to shake.

"Kid, it's okay!" Jigen said, tilting up the brim of his fedora, "Happens to the best of us, you know…"

"Stay out of it, you old blind bat! You killed for money! You probably would've killed your own mom if the price were right!" Ari shouted to Jigen. Jigen began to rise, but Ming and Goemon each took an arm, Ming repeating, 'He didn't mean it!'.

"Do you have any idea what your dad's done for years over the years?" Jigen growled, "I was a bastard son of a whore, too, Kid, and let me tell you, I didn't have half the life you did! My sister's in a friggin' wheelchair, my brother was friggin' offed, and I've got to live with that bastard's friggin name every damn day of my life! How in the hell can you be such a damn ingrate?"

Ari shook his head, "Jigen, I'm not saying that I'm ungrateful, I just can't do this anymore, all right? What doesn't anybody understand about this?"

"Ari, it wasn't like you meant to do it," Lupin sighed, his shoulders slumping. "You're acting like you did it in cold blood, when I know you didn't! You're one of the most loving, caring, generous people I know—Nothing like me in other words," Lupin added with a wry laugh. "I'm sure that everyone'll be understanding…"

"Dad, they're calling me a murderer!" Ari snapped, pointing back at the television.

"Well, you can't always listen to those around you," Lupin shrugged.

"And that's exactly what I'm doing now," Ari said, and with that, ran up the stairs. He would make this right his way; he wasn't going to put up with anyone's BS any longer.

"Sometimes you just need to let them spread their wings, Lupin, like I did with Toshiro," said Goemon in his attempt to lighten the mood.

"And the last time you've talked to your son is when?" asked Lupin curtly, causing Goemon to jerk back in surprise. He sighed, and closed his eyes, "…Sorry, Goemon, I didn't mean to…"

"It's all right," Goemon nodded. "Sometimes, in order for one's own heart to grow, you need to break a few in the process."

Ryo found Ari in his room, writing a note at his desk, "Ari? What are you doing?" asked Ryo as she put a hand on his shoulder. Ari quickly took the letter, folded it, put it in his breast pocket and looked upward at Ryo.

"Nothing," Ari shook his head.

"Listen, I… My dress came today… Do you want to see it?" asked Ryo quietly.

"I'd really like that," Ari nodded, and watched she exited and then returned about five minutes later, wearing an ornate white dress and veil.

"My mother is begging to do my makeup, but I don't know," Ryo gave a little laugh at the thought of this. "What do you think?"

"No bracelets; it's weird seeing you without them," said Ari.

"And now about the dress?"

"It's gorgeous," Ari muttered. "You make it look all the better…"

Ryo walked over to him, and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Are you sure you want to do this? We can put it off for another time, until you're better…"

Ari rose to meet her, and kissed her, "Ryo, I'm not sure about anything, anymore…"

These words scared Ryo, but she didn't say anything to them. Ari's expression, an at peace expression, also frightened her.

The next day:

"I'm sorry, I know I should've been paying closer attention," Ally said with a shake of the head. "Then he probably wouldn't have run away like that…"

"Al, you did your best," Lupin responded, patting the guilty-looking Ally on the shoulder.

"How could he just leave everyone?" Ally asked in a mutter. "God… I thought that guy was like friggin' untouchable, now I see how he really is…"

"He didn't say anything in his note," Fujiko reread it once again. "Just that he's… He's… Lupin, he could be anywhere!" she wept, and Lupin immediately went to comfort her.

"Don't worry, Fujicakes, even Pops is helping us," whispered Lupin.

San Francisco:

"Max, go get me that paper off of the fax," Zenigata said as he looked through the pile of paperwork Lupin had already faxed him. Max shot his father a glare, and handed Zenigata the paper begrudgingly. He failed to take a good look at the paper, which, if he had bothered to glance at, would have shown a picture of Ari Lupin, who he would grow to know very well in years to come.

"If you hate him as much as you do, why do you always help him?" asked Max.

"It's a long story, and you wouldn't understand all of it… Now go finish studying; you start accounting school on Monday."

Max gave a roll of the eyes, grumbled something to himself, and exited the room; it hadn't been a good month for Zenigata, but who did he have to bitch to beside his sister, who was always busy with kids nowadays?

Zenigata spent about two weeks looking through paperwork, and also looking up and down for the Lupin son, but to no avail. Ari had disappeared.

Ari, meanwhile, was in the inner city of Paris. He had taken out a new account, and had changed his name. He was now Leo LeBlanc. He had chosen the name for a combination of reasons. The man he had murdered was named Leo, he had found out through the news. And LeBlanc, well, he was a famous biographer, who had written about the stories of his great-grandfather long ago. The name was somewhat like a car salesman's, but it was his now.

He also now had an apartment of his own. He had done some voiceovers for a small Japanese company, and had gotten paid next to nothing for it, but it had been enough for him to eat and live in a hotel until he got his finances in order.

He had not only taken a new lifestyle, but a new appearance. He usually kept his hair short, but had begun to grow it out. He had changed out the red jacket that he had worn and now opted for a purple one. He also wore the reading glasses Ryo used to tease him about not wearing.

He removed his glasses briefly and polished them, looking up at the old worn building. So this was his future… He'd walked away from a loving fiancée, a wealthy family, world travel… For this… A two-bedroom apartment on the top story of a building that looked like a single strong wind could blow it down. He sighed, and decided to look for work on Monday.

Monday came a lot sooner than Leo had thought it would. He ventured all through the town, and found several potential jobs: working in a fish factory, janitorial work, and voluntary lab testing. He knew he would have a hard time finding a job until his fake papers came in.

"This is the last dishonest thing I'll ever do, I swear," Leo said as a mysterious unmarked packet appeared on his doorstep, stuffed with falsified papers. "I swear this is the last thing, really," he muttered as he seated himself on one of his lone pieces of furniture; a plastic crate he had carried his belongings in.

"Now what could I do?" he wondered to himself. He glanced up as his German dictionary and nearly fell back off of the crate, "Of course! Ari, you moron! You can translate! But who for? I dunno… I'll work out the bugs later… I really need a cat now, so I won't be talking to just myself…."

He rose, and went to cleaning up his apartment, and jumped as he saw a rat run past him, "Jesus! I really do need a cat!"

About a week later, Interpol:

"Where in the hell are we going to find someone who speaks Romanian this late in the game?" shrieked the chief to two detectives. "What kind of losers can't talk to their suspect?"

"Well, we…" one detective muttered to himself.

"Don't we have any translators!" shouted the chief.

"Our last translator hung himself last week…." said the other detective meekly, "We've gotten a few submissions, but I don't know if there's anyone who would be able to come this short notice…"

"Well, get me someone! And give him the job if he can make it!" shouted the chief, storming down the hall, away from the two.

"Hm… How about this one? He actually knows Romanian…" said one detective.

"What's his name?"

"Leo LeBlanc…"

"He looks familiar…" said the detective, "Oh, I know, he looks like that guy from that movie! Jason, Jason… The one where it was like a teen movie, but not…"

"_Not Another Teen Movie_?"

"Yeah, that!"

"…Moron… Who the hell still wears sideburns, anyway? I don't know… Let's give him a shot…"

About half an hour later, Leo LeBlanc was in the Interpol officers, translating out of Romanian into English while fighting a nasty hangover. He had been having horrible nightmares about the officer he had shot, and he had tried getting drunk to forget about his problem, but instead the room had begun to move, and in the end he ended up hugging onto his toilet for most of the night to keep the room from spinning.

He took notes while he spoke to the convict, and passed them to the detective. He rose, and hobbled out of the room, then. He desperately needed to throw up once again.

"Monsieur LeBlanc!" the chief approached Leo, and shook the sickened man's hand. "Congratulations on your new position with Interpol!"

"Interpol?" Leo muttered. "I'm…"

"Now an employee! Your resume is excellent! Welcome to the team! Would you like me to show you your office?"

"I'd rather you show me the bathroom, Sir… I think I'm going to be sick…" Leo said in a slight moan, and ran to the direction of the bathroom.

A Year Later:

Leo looked up at his calendar; another few weeks until his mother's birthday. He would have to send her flowers. He wondered if she had totally forgiven him, or what she even thought of him anymore. He had a good idea of what his father thought about him; he thought that this was just a stage that he was going through. Leo knew that this was too far advanced to be a stage, though. He couldn't go back to his old way of life now that he had lived like this for a year.

He had eventually gotten the cat, but it had ended up dying on him. So now he lived by himself. He'd go home to his darkened apartment night after night, and day after day he'd report to the same little office in the corner of the Interpol workplace. It was nice, though; private, with windows looking out at the other offices. No natural light, though. That made it a real bitch for growing any sort of potted plant, but somehow the tiny fichus in one corner managed.

After punching out his timecard, he decided to veer from the usual, and head out to a small café. He took a little seat inside, in a corner, and began to read a British newspaper. Fuji was in the news again; she had gone solo, as had everyone else in her group after its breakup. She wasn't doing too bad, but she wasn't pulling off the huge heists that came with being a Lupin.

"You're an American?" Leo looked over his newspaper at the white woman about his age who was staring back at him. She was a little shorter than him, and was a redhead, dressed in casual, if not slightly Bohemian, garb.

"No, but I know English," replied Leo as he folded the paper up and tossed it to a side of his small table. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm new here; can't really make a friend," she replied as she seated herself across from him. "My name's Arlene, what's yours?"

"A—Leonard. I like Leo, though," replied Leo as he sipped his coffee and then pushed up his glasses. "So, what brings you here, Arlene?"

"Trying to get a gig here singing," she replied, glancing down at a guitar at her feet. "Having a rough time with that, too, though. I don't get it; it worked for Hendrix. You like music?"

"Eh, depends," Leo shrugged. "You're staying around here, I take it?"

"Yeah, in whatever stoop I can," Arlene rolled her eyes, and laughed a little. "Someone stole my money… I'm friggin' broke…"

"Really? Hey, I've got an apartment, and—"

Arlene grew angry, and rose, "Forget it, Buddy. I may be broke, but I'm not desperate!"

"Wait, no, no! I don't mean like that!" Leo yelped, and waved his hand in defense. "I've got an extra room—You can crash there until you're back on your feet! Scout's honor!"

Arlene paused, and looked at him sideways before nodding, "Okay… Let's get going, then."

On the walk home, Leo found that having company had been a rare treat, one he had missed more than he had realized. He led Arlene up to his apartment, and she laughed a little at the museum-quality neatness of the home.

"You don't throw a lot of parties, do you?" she asked with a laugh as she ran her fingers over a row of books in Leo's collection.

"Not really. I keep to myself," Leo admitted with a little laugh.

"You don't have any pictures of your family or anything…" she noted.

"We're kinda strained right now," Leo said, placing his hands in his pockets and clearing his throat. "Come on, I'll show you the guest room."

Arlene picked up her backpack and guitar case, and allowed Leo to lead her to the room, which was sparsely populated with furniture, save for a mattress, a chair and a desk.

"I'm planning to do a little more decorating when the time comes," Leo said. "Bathroom's down the hall, if you need."

"Thanks, Leo," said Arlene warmly as she closed the door and left him in the darkened hall.

"I'm crazy," Leo said with a shake of the head as he walked down to his room. "She could be a murderer, an FBI agent, anything! And I let her in without a second thought… I'm friggin' crazy… That, and lonely…"

The Next Morning:

"Good morning, Stranger!" said Arlene with a laugh as she watched Leo stumble out of the bathroom, still tired. He was dressed in a light kimono and his usual glasses, and held a French newspaper in one hand. She herself was busy in the kitchen, making breakfast. "You realize that you keep hardly any food in your fridge, right? I had to go shopping…"

"I don't like to cook," replied Leo with a yawn.

"Hm, I noticed. Well, that's going to change…" Arlene nudged him, and then set a plate of food underneath his nose. "Now eat up! What time do you have to be in for work?"

"I don't work today. But I'm going to translate some documents for this publishing company…" Leo replied.

"Oh, hey, come watch me, then!" said Arlene happily, "I'm playing at a local café!"

"I… Sure…" Leo nodded.

Later, Leo LeBlanc, a man who found himself afraid of public places, was sitting in a crowded café, watching Arlene play older jazz selections. He also hated jazz music, but he would not say this to her. She seemed too much into her music.

After the show, Arlene and Leo walked down the Parisian streets, Arlene still talking happily about the show. She didn't know a word of French, but when she spoke English, she couldn't shut up, it seemed. Leo didn't mind, though. It had been forever since he had talked to someone, and knowing as many languages as he did, it was especially hard for him to go without speaking for long.

"Hey, let's head back to your apartment, what do you say?" Arlene asked as the sun began to set.

"Sounds like a good idea," he nodded in agreement, and they headed back to his apartment. He was more than a little surprised when Arlene kissed him as they reached his door.

"What was that all about!" asked Leo in a shocked choke.

"Well, this is the city of love, and I didn't come here to stay single!" Arlene replied with a laugh.

"I…. God Americans are confusing!" Leo grumbled. "I don't understand you people!"

"What's not to get?" she asked, "I know I've known you for, like, forty-eight hours, but I like you, Leo! I really do!"

"That's… That's nice, Arlene… I don't think you want to fall in love with me, though…"

"Why not?" her smile then fell as she read his expression, "Oh… Oh, I'm sorry… I didn't realize you were gay…"

"Gay?" Leo choked, "I—I'm straight, it's just… I'm neurotic…"

"I call it lovably paranoid."

"I'm a neat freak."

"You're making up excuses," she laughed, and kissed him again. "No more excuses, Mister LeBlanc—You're going to fall in love with me, too, and that's that!"

"You… You don't understand everything…." Leo sputtered.

"Then tell me!"

"I… I can't! It's just not that simple!"

"It's because you make it too, too complicated," she replied, and took his keys out of his pocket. "Let's get inside, now. This hall's too damn cold."

"Yeah," Leo nodded, and stepped into his apartment, Arlene soon following. She dropped her guitar case, placed her arms around his neck, and kissed him, which once more caught him off guard.

"Hmm… You really aren't the type to let people into your personal space, are you? You're extremely flinchy…"

"I am not," Leo grumbled. "Listen, Arlene, you're nice and all, but I'm still getting over someone… Someone I almost married… You'll meet someone very nice, though, I'm sure…"

"I already have…"

"What the hell do you want out of me, anyway?" Leo demanded.

"You out of that atrocious purple sport jacket in two seconds," Arlene replied. "Purple makes you look little Barney." Leo flushed, and turned away from her. She laughed a little, and nudged him. "It's okay… Listen, I've let enough of the good guys get away from me, and I'm making an exception here."

"I…"

"You talk too much, Leo. Just quit thinking for ten seconds; you'll like it, trust me…"

The Next Morning:

"Hey, wake up!" Arlene took a pillow and slapped it across Leo's head. LeBlanc grumbled, and reached up, and took the pillow, tossing it against a wall in his room. "Come on, you'll be late for work…"

"Work? Oh, God, you're right… What time is it?" Leo asked in a moan, putting on his reading glasses and looking at the clock. "I have to translate for a German ambassador…. I'm gonna be friggin' dead!"

"Hey, just tell them you were busy," Arlene said as she sat up in the bed and stretched.

"Heh, yeah, like they'll buy that…" Leo chuckled as he began to ready for the day.

"You have a good day, and I ought to be here when you come home," she told him as she rolled over and quickly fell back to sleep.

Leo smiled, and finished dressing, and then began his usual walk to work. He had finally let someone back into his life, and, as clichéd as it sounded, the world seemed to be a brighter place to him as a result.

"Maybe I should tell her…" Leo said aloud to himself as he reached his office, "If she really does love me, then she'll understand…"

Work passed by much too slowly for him that day. The German diplomat arrived drunk, which made translating the slur more than difficult. Leo would have to say this word for word, even when the German diplomat started calling the French Interpol officials commie bastards. Leo never wanted to be back in his office more than at that moment.

When that very long afternoon ended, Leo headed home, where Arlene had taken the liberty of cleaning his home.

"What's with this red jacket?" Arlene asked later that afternoon as Leo lied on his bed reading through an old French text.

"Oh, I used to wear it," Leo muttered, glancing up at the jacket with some worry.

"That's cool…. What were you, like a bellhop or something?"

"You know it's rude to go through other people's stuff, right? Especially when you don't know them that well…" said Leo, looking up at her once again and pushing up his glasses.

"Well, then tell me about yourself…" Arlene smiled, and sat down on the edge of the bed. She closed Leo's book in front of him, and looked down at him, "How old are you?"

Leo shrugged, "Twenty-one, I think… I don't know, I don't pay attention to my age much…"

"Any siblings?"

"Yeah, one, that I know of. I don't know if there are any others… It's possible; my dad was a real playboy in his day…"

"Complete opposite of you, eh?"

"Oi, yeah…"

"So… How come you know so many languages?"

"I traveled a lot with my family when I was growing up…"

"Really? That's so cool! I would've loved to have traveled! What'd your parents do that allowed them to travel around that much, anyway?"

"They…" Leo sat up in bed, and folded his arms, "Were kind of…Philanthropists…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Arlene, tilting her head to a side.

"Do you believe people can change?" Leo asked, taking in a deep breath.

"Sure!" Arlene smiled widely and laughed, "You should've seen me a year ago—I was working a dead end job as a secretary!"

"Well, I ran away from my past…" Leo gulped dryly. "I wasn't abused or anything. My parents loved me; they still do… My sister, she's a goof, but I love her, all the same… I just wish she'd come around! Why she has to be such a little idiot, I don't know…"

"What's your sister's name?"

"Fujiko, but everyone calls her Fuji," replied Leo. "She's named after my mom… I'm named after my dad…."

"So you're Leo junior? That's cute!" Arlene chuckled.

"It's not Leo. I… I changed my name when I left… My name's Arsène, but everyone called me Ari…"

"Ari… That's cute too…" she chuckled. Her smile then fell as something clicked in her. The red jacket…. Fujiko… Her stomach began to churn uncomfortably as she slowly pieced everything together…

"My father was Arsène the third… I'm the fourth… I'm Lupin the Fourth," Leo bit his lower lip, and looked down at this paper.

"Wha… Oh, you're funny!" Arlene laughed, and pushed him back a little, "You expect me to believe that a little sweetheart like you was some murderous thief?"

"I'm not murderous…" Leo said under his breath. "I can prove I'm Lupin the Fourth…" he said quietly, and rose, slipping off the purple sports jacket and putting on the red one. He removed his glasses, and slicked back his hair, which he had grown out. He watched as Arlene paled in horror and then ran for the door.

"Arlene, wait!" Leo sputtered, running to the door.

"Don't friggin' touch me!" Arlene yelled, slapping him away and opening the door. She then ran into her room, and began to pack hurriedly. "I should've listened to my parents and stayed in the States! It was sure as hell a lot safer!"

"Arlene… I… I'm so sorry… I'm not going to hurt you!"

"You lied about everything else."

"What did you want me to tell you? I didn't even freakin' know you! I can't exactly go around with a big neon sign that says I'm Lupin the Fourth!"

Arlene turned around to face him, "I won't tell anyone about you, Leo… But I don't want you to ever come near me again."

"Arlene, I—" but it was too late; she was gone. Leo later found that she had stolen a watch that has great-grandfather had owned, several rare books, and three hundred dollars he had stored away in one of his drawers. She was nothing more than a little thief… A little hypocrite…

From that point on, Leo became nervous around women, and avoided them at all costs, even if they were interested in him. He became even more introverted, and stuck to his office unless in was absolutely necessary. He was known as the Phantom of the End Office. He stuck to his work while he watched his sister travel the globe and steal, as she had for most of her life, and he began to have more violent flashbacks of the incident with the man. He had thought of seeing a psychologist, but this was impossible… He couldn't trust anyone with his secret.

A year later, he was introduced to a blond inspector, who looked to be a little bit off, although Leo couldn't quite put his finger on why. He looked somewhat _angered_ at being in Interpol.

When he told him his name was Max Zenigata, it all made sense. No wonder he had felt immediately uneased at Zenigata's presence.

Leo knew that now with Max as his partner, he'd have to kiss his sane life good-bye once again.


	2. I'll Be There

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Lupin but um... Yeah... I'm typing this and this is late... Leave me alone waves away Go read... Go, shoo...

Hey there!

Pardon my being a total slacker, but my mother discovered that we get Anime Network on Demand in my area, so I've been the world's biggest couch potato for three solid days. Note: I have no time to watch TV during the school year, so it's rare I watch it; I usually make up for it in summer. Honestly I can't say that I watched anything on TV that wasn't related to _Lupin _or the Beatles. Those are the two exceptions where I'll drop everything and watch intently. That or Jet Li movies (Yes, even _Cradle 2 Grave_). As I type this hello, two episodes of _Slayers _beckons me. No… Must get back to work… Damn it… sighs Maybe if I only sleep three hours a day, I'll get in everything I want to do…

Story Two: I'll be there

Setup: By popular request, a Fuji/Ari story (awww!). Well, here's everybody's favorite tumultuous twins in their beginning years. Note that the twins are about fourteen during this. Okay, bye for now!

A Mansion Outside of Paris:

"Let's face it—I'm going to die a freakin' virgin!" Fujiko Lupin Junior screamed, and with that, slammed her bedroom door in Fujiko Lupin Senior's face. Fujiko let out a sigh, and banged her hand against the door a few times.

"Fuji, sweetie, there's nothing wrong with not dating in your teens!" Fujiko twisted the handle, but to no avail. She let out a sigh, fell to her knees, and removed a bobby pin from her hair. She then proceeded to pick the lock of her daughter's door.

"Easy for you to say! Guys have always liked you!" Fuji shouted from the other side of the door.

"Yes, but they weren't always nice people—Mommy had to wait years to find someone!" Fujiko replied. She added with a mutter under her breath, "Mommy still wonders about her selection sometimes…"

"Ah, you're so adorable when you're picking a lock," Lupin the Third said with a smile as he walked up to Fujiko. "What's up?"

"Fuji locked herself in her room again…" Fujiko rose, and shoved the bobby pin into Lupin's hand, "Here, you give it a go… She must've changed it or something…"

"Why'd she lock it this time?" asked Lupin as he began to pick the lock.

"She asked that boy out…"

"Yeah, and? When're they going out?"

"They're not," Fujiko put her hands on her hips. "He told her that she'd be lucky to get a blind deaf mute to date her…."

"Ouch," Lupin shuddered. "Why're kids so brutal today, anyway? I know I had my tiffs growing up, but these little bastards today are out for blood!"

"I know, I know…" Fujiko rolled her eyes, and shook her head.

"Mom? Dad? What's up?" Ari poked his head out of his door and looked upward at his parents over his new reading glasses. He held in his hand a secondhand Italian book he had found on a recent trip, and was now learning the language.

"Your sister again," Lupin replied. He waved his hand as it began to ache. "God—I can't believe I'm starting to fall apart at forty-five…"

"I'll go get her," Ari closed his book, set it aside, and walked down the stairs and out the door. He looked up at the tree in front of Fuji's window, and grabbed onto the first branch. He then began to scale up, and eventually he landed in front of her window. He pried this open with ease; Fuji was too busy crying on her bed, face down, to notice. He stumbled in, and poked Fuji gently. Fuji returned with a wild kick with her white go-go boot, which fortunately missed him. She then rolled over and looked up at him.

"What the hell do you want?"

"Just to talk," Ari seated himself on her bed and smiled. "Not a good day, I take it…"

"I hope Jean rots in hell…" Fuji wiped her eyes and seated herself next to Ari, "It's because I'm fat…"

"No, no it's not," Ari snapped back. "You're not fat—You're beautiful! Anyone who tells you different is just a stupid ass!"

Fuji looked up at him sternly, "I'm fifteen and I can't even wear juniors… It's easy for you to say that stuff; you didn't have to do to five different stores to look for something that would fit you…."

"No, I don't usually wear dresses…" Ari responded with a raised eyebrow. He smiled, and laid an arm around his sister's shoulders. "If you want to get someone to love you, it's for personality, not for looks…"

"…There's no way you're a Lupin…"

"Yeah, I know," Ari chuckled a little, and leaned back on his elbows on the bed. He then looked at her closet and smiled, and ran into the closet.

"Ari—Ari, what are you doing?" asked Fuji as she knocked on her walk-in closet door, "Ari?"

"Gimme a second, okay?" Ari called from the other side. Fuji sat back on her bed, and waited.

Ari then emerged, wearing the same purple ballroom dress Fuji had mentioned, plus a thick coat of makeup and a stuffed bra. He looked down at the bra and laughed a little, "I'm not sure if this is the right cup size…"

Fuji couldn't help it; she placed a hand over her mouth and broke off into wild laughter. She was in such hysterics she grabbed her inhaler and breathed in and out deeply. Ari then sat down on the bed next to her and laughed with her, "Hey, how about I find you a really cool date for that dance coming up, huh? He'll be a real hottie, I promise."

"How would you judge?" ask Fuji worriedly as she looked him up and down. "God you look ridiculous…"

"Yeah, but you don't look sad anymore…" Ari rose, and unlocked Fuji's door, "I'm gonna go grab your date now…"

"Okay," Fuji resumed her wild laughter as she watched Lupin and Fujiko's bewildered expressions as they watched their son scale back down the stairs in Fuji's old ball gown.

"….I don't wanna know… I just don't wanna know…" Lupin threw up his hands, and walked away, shaking his head.

Two days later, a French Airport:

"Are you even legally allowed to drive yet?" Ally asked as he seated himself in the front seat next to Ari. "You've gotta be eighteen in France, don't you?"

"Hey, who's gonna tell?" Ari shrugged, and watched as Ryo hopped into the back seat of the Fiat 500. She was even more attractive than when he had last seen her, Ari noted with a blush. He cleared his throat, and took off toward the house.

When they arrived, Ari led both Ally and Ryo into their temporary rooms, and took a walk with Ryo while Ally went to go lay out his tuxedo for the night.

"So you got Ally all the way here so your sister would have a date? That's so sweet! You're like those guys in the magazines I read!" Ryo said as she and Ari walked along the large lake behind the Lupin estate.

"Really? That's terrific!" Ari replied, his voice cracking a little. Ryo laughed and nudged him, and Ari reddened in response.

"I hear you also tried on Fuji's dress…"

Ari stopped dead, and nearly fell into the lake, "Eh, where'd you hear that?" he asked in a nervous laugh.

"Your mother," Ryo leaned in to him, and Ari grew even more nervous, and lost his balance, tumbling into the lake. Ryo gave a small chuckle, and helped the young Lupin boy up, "You're soaked! Let's get you inside!" she removed Ari's jacket and wrung it out, and then led him into the house. She walked up to his room with him, and closed the door behind them. Ari slipped off his tie, shoes and socks and placed the red quilt from his bed over his shoulders.

"You've got a really cool room," Ryo admitted as she looked about, "Very… Sterile…"

"I like everything to be in order…" replied Ari, sitting down on his desk chair.

"I'm going to leave you to change… I'll see you in a little bit," Ryo kissed Ari on the cheek, and exited. Ari blinked a few times in surprise, and remained motionless a few moments before beginning to change for the night.

That night:

"Ryoko, no way!" Ally snapped.

"Oh, come on, Ally, this is special!" Ryo took her hair gel out, and began to slick Ally's hair back very tightly. He looked like an extremely young version of their father, Ryo noted with a laugh. Ally looked in the mirror, and moaned; he sometimes wished he looked like a Ming instead of a Jigen. The Mings didn't have the pointy noses of the Jigens.

"Fuji, you ready!" asked Ari.

"Yeah!" Fuji ran down, wearing a sky blue sequined dress. Her hair was done up, and she even wore a tiara to top it off.

"Heh, just like a princess," Ally smirked, and took her hand. They were led out to a limousine, and then were driven to a Paris ballroom. Ari and Ryo immediately went off in their own direction, leaving Ally and Fuji together.

"So, how much is Ari paying you?" asked Fuji as Ally walked her up the steps to the main room.

"Wha? Nothing!" Ally replied, stunned.

"You're for real?" asked Fuji sternly, looking him in the eyes.

"Yeah! I'm doing this because he asked me!" Ally answered, "Why do you think he'd need to pay me? We're friends!"

"I don't know… It's just that, well… I'm not really popular… I guess I'm just a little bit of a dork…" Fuji admitted as Ally walked out to the main room with her, were there were numerous children from numerous prominent families, herself included. Fuji gripped onto Ally's hand a little tighter, and smiled. Ally was even cuter than Jean, and Jean's date confirmed this by saying it aloud.

"You wanna dance?" asked Ally.

"Who? Me?" Fuji laughed in disbelief.

"I don't see anyone else here I like!" Ally snorted in response.

"Er, sure…" Fuji put a hand about his waist, and let him place his around hers.

"That kid's as scrawny as Lupin's big," one heckling girl whispered to her friends.

Ally could see that Fuji had heard this, and Fuji bit her lip, but continued dancing, "So, how's Heiji doing?" asked Ally.

"He's great… He's like my best friend, aside from Ryo… He couldn't make it, though. His dad's doing a heist in California, and needed him there," replied Fuji.

"That's a shame… You ever think about maybe asking him out?"

"Heiji?" Fuji laughed a little at this, "No way… He's like a brother!"

"Hey, Lupin!" someone called, and both Fuji and Ally stopped as Jean approached, "Who in the hell is he?"

"He's, um…" Fuji began, but Ally was quick to butt in.

"I'm her date—You got a problem?"

"Where the hell did you find this one? A friggin' sewer? He looks like a damn rat!" Jean laughed.

"Better to look like a rat than bray like an ass," replied Ally calmly.

"Hey, I know you! You're the crazy Jigen!" Jean laughed, "You're the one that gets kicked out of all of those schools! Didn't your parents have to move to another county?"

"Didn't your parents drop you on your head when you were a kid?" Fuji spat out, and surprised even herself with this comment.

"What the hell did you just say?" asked Jean, leaning into Fuji.

Fuji gulped, but continued, "I guess not… Well, um, I guess there isn't an excuse for your face after all…"

"Bitch," Jean grumbled, and turned away from her and Ally.

Ally began to laugh as the party resumed, "That was friggin' awesome! Where'd that come from?"

"I… I don't know…" Fuji admitted with a shrug. "You want to keep dancing?"

"Sure," Ally placed both hands around her waist, and Fuji rested her head on his shoulder. This wasn't part of the deal, but oh well, Ally thought as he looked upward toward a chandelier. There atop the chandelier was Ari, holding a priceless painting from the museum connected to the ballroom. That had been the main objective of the night, although Fuji had gotten sidetracked.

"Hey, you want to get some fresh air?" Fuji asked suddenly, looking up at Ally with a form of new confidence.

"Well, I…"

"Come on," she took him by the hand and led him out to a balcony. "Wow, it's gorgeous out here!"

"Yeah," Ally gave a bit of a nervous tick as he saw a squirrel scamper by; he had recently been bitten by one while trying to feed it, and had needed several rabies shots to the stomach. He hated the animal with a passion.

Fuji seated herself on a stone bench and motioned for Ally to sit. He did so, and looked about the area aimlessly. He saw Ari and Ryo out of the corner of his eye, running to the Fiat, which had been parked out back. Ryo was in the driver's seat; she sped off, and left Ally on his own for this.

"How long are you staying in France, huh?" Fuji asked, causing Ally to fall back to earth.

"Eh, just a few days," he replied.

"Listen, um…. I've known you for a long time, and you're like my brother's best friend…." Fuji started. "So, I… I wanted to know if you'd like to be my boyfriend."

"What?" Ally choked; this definitely wasn't part of the deal he had made with Ari! Ari, that bastard!

"I know it'd be a little long distance, but it could work…" Fuji looked up at him, and smiled, and then took both of his hands, "Please?"

"I… I don't know… Um… I think you need punch…" Ally began to rise, but Fuji had his hands in a firm grasp, and he was totally against fighting girls.

Fuji leaned in, and lightly kissed him, and then drew back in shock as she realized what she had done, "I'm… I'm really sorry…"

"It's okay… You're a Lupin; it's in your genes to go around liking everyone that comes in your path! Listen, I know that you're nice, and you're gonna meet someone great, but I'm not really the boyfriend type, plus I'm not really up for a relationship right now…"

"Are you sure?" asked Fuji. "Is it because I'm…"

"No, no! I just… I'm really a lot more concentrated in my martial arts and my hockey right now… I might go out for the Blackhawks in the few years, and trust me, hockey wives—Eh, girlfriends are a bunch of…"

"Wives?"

"I meant girlfriends!"

Fuji smiled and nudged him, "Okay, but you have to promise that I'm going to go to your wedding when you get married, all right?"

"Yeah, yeah… Sure," Ally rose, and held out his hand for Fuji to take. "You wanna keep dancin'?"

"I'd love to," Fuji gave a wide, goofy, Lupin-like smile, and followed Ally back onto the dance floor.

The next morning, Fujiko was shocked to see a bag of fabric sitting outside of Fuji's door. She opened the door, and saw where Fuji had hemmed the skirt of one of her favorite dresses; whereas it used to be an inch below the knee, it was now even with her fingertips. Out of the leftover fabric she had concocted a retro headband. She looked back at her mother and smiled, "You like?"

"What happened to you last night?" asked Fujiko.

"I look like an old librarian in a lot of this stuff—I wanna change!" replied Fuji ecstatically. "I signed up for softball this morning… I've already got a decent swing at golf, how much harder can softball be?"

"I take it your date went well…" said Fujiko as she seated herself on the edge of her daughter's bed, "You look great, Honey." Ari stuck his head in and raised his eyebrows as he saw Fuji spin about in the short dress once, and then shrugged and walked down to Ally, who was out on the porch.

Ari removed his brown leather wallet and then took out several crisp bills, "Well, a deal's a deal. Five hundred American dollars…"

"Keep it," said Ally, raising up a hand.

"Wha… You sure?"

"Yeah," Ally rose and slapped Ari on the back. "Beside, I have something I need to talk to you about…"

"You… You do?"

"Yeah-huh," Allen Jigen flashed a glare and gave a cackle, and led Ari around the back of the house. "What in the hell do you think you were doing with my sister, eh?"

Later that evening, when Ryo and Ally left for Chicago, Lupin gathered his children together, and laid out the painting that Ari had swiped on its back; it was a map.

"It's for the gold of El Dorado," Lupin explained with a smile. His smile then turned to pure curiosity. "Fuji, honey, are you wearing a V-neck?"

"It is okay, Daddy?" asked Fuji worried.

"Yeah, I just… Um, anyway," Lupin cleared his throat, and turned back to the map. He knew he was in trouble now…. He had never noticed it before, but Fuji was developing her mother's figure… He'd be fighting off the pervs with an iron rod. Fuji had also put on makeup… Just what was going on with her?

"I think we should enter in through here, Dad," Ari placed his finger on the back entrance of the palace. "No one'll suspect that…"

"Sure they will…" Fuji cut in, "You're Lupin the Third and Lupin the Forth—No way would you guys use the front, so naturally you'll use the back. I think you guys should enter in to the left; they really won't see that coming… We could also use hang gliders and enter in through the top; they're a sun worshiping tribe, so you know that there's a top access to at least some sunlight… That's… Um… Just my opinion, though… You guys go with what you want…"

Fujiko, who was watching this from the kitchen, didn't notice that the tea she was pouring for her family was now overflowing. She stopped and cursed as she watched it spill onto the floor, and ran for a towel. Lupin and Ari were just as stunned, and it was obvious due to their expressions.

"Fuji, I think that's an excellent idea," Lupin admitted, placing an arm over her shoulders. "Why didn't you tell us you had a knack for doing this stuff, huh, young lady?"

"Never asked," Fuji gave a wink, and Lupin could smell the trouble approaching.

In the following week, they practiced over the plan, and Fuji approached it with a vigor that nobody even realized she had owned. She was certainly a rising star in thievery.

So the father, mother, son and daughter all arrived in Brazil days later, the plan borne into the heads of each family member. Fuji gave a smile as she looked over the Brazilian beaches. A week or two ago, and she wouldn't have even considered venturing out wearing a bathing suit. But now she was once of the first on the hot white sand as the family settled in their hotel room. Ari followed out soon afterward, and then Fujiko and Lupin.

"Hey, remember when we stole that statue, hm?" Fujiko asked Lupin.

"Oh, Baby, do I!" Lupin gave a chuckle. He stopped and looked at her for reassurance, "You, eh, remembered it talking, too, right?"

Fujiko patted Lupin's hand, "Sure…." She gave an affectionate smile which turned to a gasp of shock and then a slap across the face as she realized where one of Lupin's hands had ventured. Ari laughed and shook his head, and then looked out at the waterfront. It certainly was beautiful… This was too gorgeous a place to bring up what he had been thinking to his father… He was good at being a thief, but Fuji appeared to be a natural, as much as she had hidden it. Ari wondered if this was due to lack of confidence, fear of jealousy from him… He couldn't place his finger on it!

There was suddenly a splash from behind, and Ari spun about and saw Fuji smiling at him, standing knee-deep in the water, "Hey, what's with the stern face?"

"Nothing. I was just thinking," Ari shook his head, and then tilted it to a side. He broke into a run after his sister, and Fuji laughed and began to run from him, like when they were much smaller. This came to a halt when Ari had finally caught Fuji, and the duo began to see who they could hold under the water longer.

"Hey, I want to get some ice cream!" a drenched Fuji said, pulling her black hair out of her face and smiling at her brother happily.

"Sounds good," Ari and she walked up onto the shore and then found a nearby ice cream vendor, Ari ordering in Portuguese.

"That's so cool, how you know all of those languages," Fuji admitted as she seated herself next to her brother on the beach and licked some of the mint ice cream from the yellow waffle cone.

Ari looked down at his butter pecan ice cream and laughed lightly, "It's nothing, really. We all have something we're good at… For me, it's languages and school… For you it seems to be thieving."

"I haven't even stolen anything on my own yet," Fuji replied.

"I know… But I know you could if you wanted to. Someone could just look at you and tell that something's clicking when you're thinking about stealing stuff! No wonder you were so good at _Mousetrap_. That should've been the hint there… I think that'd you be even better than me!"

"Ha! No way… You're going to be as great as Dad, that's for freakin' sure!" Fuji laughed, "Everyone's gonna know Lupin the Fourth and everyone's gonna love you… Women'll flock to you, men'll want to be you, yadda, yadda, yadda…"

"Hey, maybe you'll be as great as Mom!" said Ari suddenly.

"I think Daddy would hit the roof," replied Fuji as she took another lick of her ice cream. "He freaks out whenever I talk to a boy, which isn't often, but still."

"You've always got Heiji. He cleans up nice after you pull him away from _Warcraft_," answered Ari.

"Could you imagine someone being that different from their parent? I mean, Goemon—Mr. Stern 'I shall not smile for it's dishonorable' samurai…. And then Heiji… It's a riot, really…"

"Heh, yeah," Ari looked out at the sunset and sighed heavily. He was having his doubts about thieving, and he had since he had started, but he had always remained due to the fact that without him there would be no one to fill his father's shoes. Now he wasn't so certain if that was the case anymore.

"Hey, quite staring at me… It's weird…" said Fuji worriedly.

"Oh, sorry," Ari shook his head, and looked out at the beachfront.

The Rainforest, the Next Day:

"Well, here goes," Lupin kicked off with his hang glider, and flew toward the ancient South American temple. Ari was next to grab his, and he looked back at Fuji once more with worry.

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Definitely," Fuji nodded, and watched as her brother took off. She was last to go, and her landing was admittedly the roughest. The twins were more than surprised to see Goemon waiting there for them, but Lupin instead put his arms about Goemon and embraced the stoic samurai tightly.

"Goemon, how in the hell are you doing!" asked the thief.

"Heh, same as always, Lupin," replied Goemon, embracing the thief. He removed a set of headphones he had been listening to, and Ari and Fuji had to stifle their chuckles at the Japanese pop they heard resonate from the headphones. Lupin had told them not to laugh at Goemon's strange taste in music, but it was difficult not to. "Are you ready?"

"Whenever you are," Lupin nodded, and broke away from his friend. Goemon unsheathed his sword and quickly swung it through several layers of rock, and they began to venture through the deep and darkened passageways, lit only by Lupin's lighter and a torch Goemon had concocted.

"Heiji sends best wishes, Fuji," said Goemon as he walked side-by-side next to her down one of the winding passageways.

"Tell him I send the same, Goemon," replied Fuji as she looked about, and then stopped as her brother and father came to a dead halt. Before them stood a golden idol, gleaming in the sunlight.

"An ancient sun deity…" Lupin explained as he looked onward at the two-foot tall statue. "And where there's a god, there's his people…." he sighed as he looked about at the eyes followed the Lupin family and their samurai associate. Goemon once again drew his blade, and Ari and Fuji backed up until they were back-to-back, looking at the angered looking worshipers.

"Remember what happened last time we did this, Lupin?" Goemon said as he watched the worshippers prepare their weapons.

"Heh, yeah… Zombies and Carmen Miranda's evil twin…" replied Lupin as he drew his gun. "Ari, Fuji, I want one of you two to go for that statue… Goemon and I'll fight off those guys…"

"I can get past them," said Fuji to Ari as she lifted up a large branch and wrapped her hands about it like she would a baseball bat. "You'll be small enough to get out of that opening—I throw, you catch…"

"Just like baseball…" Ari concluded.

"Exactly…" Fuji answered, and took off for the statue, batting anyone in her way out.

"I hate baseball…" Ari mumbled as he kicked a worshiper's legs out from beneath him.

Fuji slid to the idol, and lifted off of its stone pedestal, and then proceeded to run back a little to distance herself from Ari, "Catch!" she yelled. Ari briefly stopped fighting, as did Lupin. The third generation thief watched in horror as his prize was flown through the air like a Hackensack. Ari caught the idol, and made a run for it, jumping through a small crack in the temple.

Fuji immediately had numerous angry cult members surround her, and she removed her left earring, and called to Lupin and Goemon, "Cover your eyes!" she threw down the earring, and a large light engulfed the room. She felt her father wrap an arm about her and lead her out, and they met up with Goemon and Ari outside of the temple. Ari was polishing the statue and looking at it with a sort of tired admiration.

"Well, what do you say we catch the plane, huh?" asked Lupin as he brushed away a large canopy, revealing a small, worn red airplane.

"We hiked here… Only to find out that there was a plane here the entire time?" Fuji yelled in disbelief.

"Eh, yeah," Lupin twitched a nervous smile. Fuji looked so much like her mother when she was completely pissed at him. He then noted Goemon, and how pale the samurai had become. Lupin even noted where he was clutching onto his chest and his breathing was deeper than usual. Maybe Fuji was right, and hiking had been a bad idea… Goemon didn't look well at all.

"Goemon, buddy, you—"

"I'm fine," Goemon waved off Lupin, and crawled into the passenger seat of the plane. He took a long gulp of air and sat back. Goemon had never felt like this before, but he told no one, although secretly, he was frightened. His own father had died of a heart condition, and he secretly feared the same for himself.

"How could this be happening? I'm only forty-one…" he muttered to himself.

"What'd you say?" Lupin as he climbed into the pilot's seat and looked at Goemon with more worriedly, "Are you sure you're…."

"Let's just take off!" Goemon snapped. Ari and Fuji climbed into the back and looked at one another, and then at Goemon. Fuji's eyes then fell upon the idol once again, and she smiled. She and Ari had really done it… More importantly, she had done what she thought impossible.

Later that night:

"Hm?" Fuji caught a glint upon her desk, and slowly opened her door. She had been preparing to sleep for the night, but her fatigue had soon disappeared when she realized she was looking at the idol, who was smiling back up at her, locked in an eternal dance. Along with it was a note, signed Lupin the Third and Lupin the Fourth in Japanese characters.

She picked in up and opened it, and scanned through its contents.

Dear Fuji,

We thought since you did such a great job, you should keep this.

Congrats,

Daddy and Ari

Fuji gave a laugh and fell back on the bed, placing a hand over her eyes, "I wonder… If I'm this good at planning it the first time, could I get even better at it?"

She immediately jumped back up and ran to her desk, pulled out a paper and pen, and began to draw out her next plan feverishly.

One year later, Monaco:

Fuji gave a laugh as she made another turn, and soon was hidden away from the police, thanks to a shortcut that Ari had told her of. In the back seat sat large bags of coins… Golden coins…

She continued her drive towards Paris all while singing her own rendition of _I Enjoy Being a Girl_. She was more than shocked when a motorcycle pulled out in front of her, and she screeched her brakes to a halt. She sunk down in her seat as Ari removed his helmet and dismounted the bike, and then walked gravely to her vehicle.

"I thought we were doing this together…" said Ari as he gripping onto Fuji's door.

"Ummm… Oh, yeah…Guess I sorta forgot…." Fuji gave an innocent smile and looked up at Ari with her most angelic expression, "There was this guy there who, well…. Let's say I broke off the relationship early…"

"Relationship? You're freakin' fifteen!" Ari shrieked, nearly dropping his helmet.

"I don't look it though," Fuji replied with an innocent smile. "Besides, like the saying goes—When you got it, flaunt it… And why not make a buck off of it, too? I worked hard for this! I dropped five dress sizes in a single year… I've gotta party while I can!"

"I think all of that fat you lost went to your head," Ari said in a snap. He walked back to his motorcycle, failing to see Fuji stick her tongue out at him while he had his back turned. He managed to secure the Honda to the back of the foreign car, and hopped into the front seat with Fuji. "Dad doesn't like you around guys like that, especially when he's not there… Something could happen to you!... Fuji, you smell like a martini!"

"Okay, so maybe I had a few drinks, too… You won't tell Dad, though, right?" asked Fuji.

"Of course not," Ari leaned back in his seat and placed his hands over his eyes. "No more drinking, though, or all bets are off!"

"You got it," Fuji put the car into gear and headed out onto a main roadway.

Fuji and Ari took turns driving to their estate, and both twins unloaded the treasure while Lupin remained in the living room on the phone. Both brother and sister stopped hauling in their treasure when Lupin hung up the phone and stood.

"Dad, you okay?" asked Ari.

"Goemon… He had more heart problems and had to be rushed to the hospital…" replied Lupin tiredly. He put his hands in his pockets and gave a sorrow-filled smile, "So how'd you two do?"

"Terrific!" Ari answered cheerfully, "Our best yet!"

"That's great! Why don't you two tell me all about it?" Lupin asked hopefully. Then the phone rang, and he found himself talking to Amaya once again. He looked back at Ari and Fuji and shrugged, "Sorry, guys… I've got to take this… Maybe later…"

"Okay!" Fuji and Ari nodded in unison, and carried their haul up stairs.

"You know they're having another jewel show in town…" said Fuji as she and Ari divided their haul amongst themselves. She might have carried out the plan, but Ari had been the main thinker, and deserved his share as well.

"Na-ah… There's a huge mob boss behind it… It's too risky… We'll let Dad handle it," Ari replied.

"But, Ari, c'mon…"

"Fuji. No," Ari looked up at her sternly. "And you've got to promise me you won't go solo on this…"

"But, I—"

"Promise…"

"Fine, fine, I promise, I promise… Jeeze, you're as tough as those cops sometimes…" Fuji grumbled as she tossed another coin into her bag.

The Next Week, a Paris Jewel Show:

"This one's beautiful!" Fuji whispered to the Mafia lord she stood next to as he led her along the museum, giving her a tour of all of the beautiful riches that would soon be hers.

"And it can be yours, my Dear," replied the mob boss, Liato, as he took another puff of his cigar.

_'You got that right, Buddy… All of them…' _Fuji's eyes glinted with evil intent as she looked at the huge ruby, about the size of a golf ball.

"Why don't you come up to the second floor… I'll show you what's in the vault," the balding man led her upstairs, and into an office. Fuji was somewhat concerned when she saw there was no vault… Nor any windows. This concern was heightened when she heard the door behind her lock.

"The lock is electronic…" explained Liato as he set down his cigar. "The only way out is with a code from this touchpad…"

"That's, um, really nice… Listen, I've got to feed my cats, so would you—"

"Why leave so soon? The party's just getting good," Liato took her by the arm and pulled her forward, and Fuji let out a gasp and stomped on his foot.

"Ouch! You little bitch!" Liato howled, and slapped Fuji across the face with such force she went flying back against a wall. "I'll show you, you little French rat!" Liato growled and reached down for her, but was instead toppled over after Fuji heard what sounded like a clunking noise. She looked down at the knocked-out don, terrified, and then upward at the man who had rescued her, one who looked like another of Liato's thugs. She went to throw a punch, but he quickly caught her fist in one hand and ripped off his mask in the another.

"Ari!" Fuji jumped up and embraced him tightly. She broke down and began to cry out of relief, "This, this guy, he, he locked the door and then I couldn't get out, so…"

"Shush, It's okay, I'm here now, so we'll be fine…"

"How'd you know, though?"

"Your note…. 'I went to the library'… You hate reading…" Ari answered.

Liato gave a moan as he came to, and Ari raised his bat and swung again, knocking the mob boss out for a second time. Ari then removed the rest of his disguise as well as his red jacket, and laid the jacket over his sister's shoulders.

"Thanks for rescuing me…" Fuji said quietly as Ari and she walked down the stairs and away from the office. Ari had managed to attach a bomb to the lock, and bust it, automatically opening the door and allowing them their freedom.

"Not a problem—It's what I do," Ari shrugged. "Come on, I've got the SSK outside…. We'll head home and tell Mom and Dad we went to the movies…"

"Ari… Thanks, again…" Fuji repeated as she and Ari hopped into the Benz and drove towards home.

"Just promise me you won't do anything like that stupid again, Fuji… Pinky swear it," said Ari sternly, holding out his hand. Fuji nodded, and made the sacred pinky swear with her brother, and then he revved up the engine, and they set out for home.

"Promise me you'll be there, okay? If I have to promise something so do you…." said Fuji.

"Ha… Fuji, you know I'll always be here for you!" Ari laughed, "That's an easy promise to keep!"

"Yeah… You promise?"

"Yes, I promise, Fuji… I'll never leave. You have my word on it, or my name isn't Arsène Lupin the Fourth…"

Fuji nodded tiredly, and turned over, away from Ari. She was in desperate need of sleep right now. It was a beautiful night out in the countryside where Ari drove, and it was easy to fall asleep to.


	3. Lightning is Striking Again

DISCLAIMER: HA HA HA HA HA! You think I own_ WHAT_!

Hola!

Look, RP Buddy, I wrote it! Hee, hee, sorry, folks, just had a fried waiting a long time for this story --. Thanks to everybody's who been reviewing the past few stories—I've gotten other requests, and I promise that I'll have those done as well. If there were more hours in the day for me write, I'd gladly take them. But, can't change the unchangeable. Alas. Well, please enjoy this next short story, and feedback and ideas are always appreciated! P.S., this is dedicated to that said buddy.

Scrapbook Three: Lightning is Striking Again

Setup: What happened in the time period when Jigen went blind? Another Jigen filled in, of course! A rare look at Yukiko as a teenager, something I would've liked to have done more, but given her age difference with the other Lupin IV cast, it would've taken forever to fill up the team to what it is currently.

"Are you sure I'm old enough to do this, Lupin?" Yukiko asked worriedly as she looked back down at the Colt .78 and upward at Lupin. The gentleman thief simply nodded and smiled.

"Well, you're fourteen, now, Yukiko. You've officially been handling a gun for more than half of your life, and you're damn good. I would never ask you to do something I didn't know you were capable of…"

"I'm glad you think I'm up for the job… But…" Yukiko faltered and gave a heavy sigh, and Lupin smirked and patted her on the shoulder.

"Yeah, it is hard for Jigen, but—"

"I didn't tell him," Yukiko said, closing her eyes.

"You didn't what?" Lupin paled and gulped at the thought of Jigen tracking him down and killing him for taking his daughter halfway around the world without his knowledge of the event.

"He thinks I went to go visit Toshiro in New York," replied Yukiko, sticking her hands in her pocket and smiling. "It's not all a lie; I am going to work with him…"

Lupin's shoulders slumped; he was a dead man if Jigen found out. He set the grim thoughts that ran through his mind aside, though, and concentrated at the mission at hand. He looked down at his watch and looked about worriedly; Ishikawa was supposed to be here by now. He had wanted Goemon, in all honesty, but the samurai was unavailable and he wouldn't dare say anything bad about the young New Yorker in front of Yukiko, who still regarded Toshiro as one of her closest friends. He watched as a cab pulled up and out stepped a tall teenage Asian boy in a gray hooded sweatshirt, old sneakers and jeans.

Lupin turned his head to a side and tried to imagine the fit Goemon would've gone into had he seen his son at that moment. Toshiro, meanwhile, paid the cabby and walked into the diner where Lupin and Yukiko sat opposite of one another, Lupin with a cup of coffee and a newspaper and Yukiko with a glass of grape juice. Lupin could almost sense that she was destined to be a wino of greater equal value to his former gunman partner.

"Yo, Toshiro!" Yukiko called over and waved. Toshiro smiled as he laid eyes upon her and seated himself in the booth next to her, embracing the amateur shootist. She looked as formal as he looked informal, dressed in black and white saddle shoes, white dress pants, a black button up shirt and a white vest. At her side sat a white fedora which had only recently begun to fit her. She had picked it up many years ago in Israel, and Lupin remembered the details of these events bittersweetly as the two quickly came up to par on one another's lives over the past two years.

"So, looks like everyone who you're going to work with is here, Lupin," said Toshiro with a smile. Lupin had to suppress a frown as Toshiro spoke. The thick Japanese accent was gone, and he spoke in refined, almost perfect English. He also had the beginnings of a New York accent. Oh, no way was he going to tell Goemon of this. He already would have Jigen after him, as it was.

"Yup. You want to grab something to eat?" asked Lupin, handing Toshiro a menu and smiling.

"Eh, no, thanks. I just ate at the studio," Toshiro replied politely. "One of Julia's friends knows how to cook authentic Japanese food, so I was in heaven. I like Julie, but she can't really, uh, cook…"

"No wonder you're so damn skinny," Lupin muttered. "You brought your weapons with you? I'm praying that they're not some sort of stage prop, please…"

"Nope! My swords," Toshiro patted a wrapped package at his side and smiled. "You guys want to head out?"

"Hey, isn't it me who's the boss here?" Lupin inquired.

"Does your wife even know you're gone?" Toshiro smirked.

"Hee hee… Fujicakes doesn't have me wrapped around her finger like you think!" said Lupin, leaning back in his chair.

"Nope. It's tighter," Yukiko added as she sipped her drink. Lupin gave an insulted look as he looked across the table at the young Jigen, and Toshiro gave a chuckle.

"Ha ha ha," said Lupin blandly. He grabbed his infamous rouge jacket and rose from the sticky booth, and Ishikawa and Jigen soon followed him out to the Romeo.

"So what's the gig, anyway?" Toshiro inquired as he seated himself in the back seat of the Romeo.

"I had Yukiko e-mail you the information…." Lupin responded. Toshiro in return gave the thief a confused look and turned his head to a side, and Lupin's vision shifted to Yukiko, who gave a weak smile and shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm not good with machines…." Yukiko said with a smirk. "I kinda crashed the computer…"

"And let me guess, your dad doesn't know about that one, either?"

"….Eh… Not really…"

"Greattt…." Lupin gave a roll of the eyes and started up the car, "Basically I need you two to infiltrate a club for me while I keep my eyes on the prize. I'll need both of your skills at least one point in this heist…"

"My dad in a club? No wonder you wanted me," Yukiko gave a chuckle at this. "What's the object of your lust this week, hrm?"

"Hee hee hee…. Thought you'd never ask, Yuki," Lupin gave a large smile. "And if you want to know, it's a disco ball…."

"….Damn, you _are_ getting old…" Toshiro muttered. Lupin looked back at the teen through his rearview with a small glare, and then began to back the car out of its space.

"You're cute… And insults are rich coming from a guy who played the lead in _Annie_," Lupin smiled at Toshiro, and Ishikawa instead chose to ignore this comment and looked at the New York scenery about him.

"It's completely incrusted in diamonds and other precious jewels that make me drool at the thought!" Lupin said with a chuckle, "All pure, not artificial…"

"Must be a pretty up-there club, then," said Yukiko, her interest in this unusual item becoming quickly apparent.

"Well, you won't get away wearing a suit, or jeans, for that matter," said Lupin with a smile. He stopped the car a few blocks away from the diner where they had enjoyed their meal and handed Yukiko a card. "You guys pick out something pretty, and don't worry about the expense."

"Heh, we never do," Yukiko smiled as she climbed out of the parked car.

Lupin turned around and looked at the glaring Toshiro, noting how very much he looked like his father with his infamous pissed-off expression, "…What?"

"I am not going alone with her," said Toshiro sternly.

"That's a good idea—You should come, too, Lupin! It's been forever since you and Toshiro have bonded!" Yukiko called as she opened the door to a renowned clothing store.

"Oh, come on, please no… Please, please no, Yukiko," Lupin begged.

"You come or I tell Fujiko who really blew up the pool. You still owe me for taking the heat for that!" said Yukiko sternly.

"I'll tell her about that someday!" Lupin retorted. "Come on, how was I supposed to know it was an _active_ bomb!"

"I told you not to trust E-Bay," Yukiko sighed as she opened Lupin's car door. "Come on…."

"Well, on the upside, cute girls," Lupin chuckled and clasped his hands together. "And unlike you, I won't get smacked for looking at them!" said Lupin to Toshiro, "My wife's on the other side of the planet…."

"What? I won't either!" said Toshiro as he climbed out of the Romeo and stood eye-to-eye with Lupin. Sixteen and he was as tall as the gentleman thief himself. Lupin noted this, slightly annoyed, and walked into the clothing store with Lupin.

"Here—You'd look good in this," Yukiko said, tossing Toshiro a dress shirt and slacks.

"It's purple…." Toshiro muttered as he felt the soft material of the shirt.

"So?" Yukiko asked as she briefly looked away from a catalogue she had begun to flip through. She herself hated dressing up, so knowing that Toshiro would suffer by dressing up and knowing Lupin was pained by being drug along was ample revenge for the two.

"I don't do purple," Toshiro replied calmly, hanging up the dress shirt and beginning to finger through a clothing rack absently, pulling out a gray shirt which Yukiko immediately took from him and put back.

"Purple… Heh, well, Goemon had a purple kimono for a while… It could work… A Lupin on the other hand, heh heh, I don't think so," Lupin said as he fingered the silky material of the shirt.

"Excuse us, Sir, how can we help you?" a clerk asked, tapping Lupin upon the shoulder. He blinked a few times as Lupin turned around and rephrased the question, "How _can't _we help you?"

"Excuse me?" a stunned Lupin inquired.

"Eh, right this way… Let's start with the jacket…." the clerk took the still-puzzled Lupin by the arm and led him to separate section.

"I don't think Lupin gets it… His outfit's only in style when the circus is in town," Yukiko laughed as she pulled off an outfit from the metallic rack and smiled. "I'll be right back…"

"Huh? Yeah, okay," Toshiro nodded as he looked downward at another shirt. He looked over to where a brewing argument could be heard, and he tried to suppress a laugh as he saw Lupin bickering with the same clerk. The clerk's voice suddenly dropped, and he passed Lupin a small piece of paper. Lupin, in turn, took a few steps back, and walked over to Toshiro for safety.

"I just got asked out to dinner," said a disturbed Lupin.

"Heh, approaching middle age and you've still got it," Toshiro chuckled. "Maybe you should take it… He probably gets awesome commission."

"Why you little br—"

"Hey, how's this look?" both the approaching middle aged man and the young man turned their attention to Yukiko, who had chosen a short, white dress.

"If your father saw you, he'd have me hanged," Lupin said with a smile. "But you do make an old man want to be young again…"

"Lupin, you aren't that old!" said Yukiko with a laugh. "So you're almost forty—Big deal…"

"You look good," Toshiro said with a nod.

Good; that was it. Same idiot after all of these years, Yukiko thought with a shake of the head as she rolled her eyes and walked back into the dressing room.

"…You know from that look that she's really pissed at you, right?" Lupin asked Toshiro when he had made sure that Yukiko was out of hearing range.

"Oh, yeah…." Toshiro nodded. He sighed and pulled off a shirt from the rack, shook his head and set it back.

"You know, I could give you a hand picking out a shirt if you want…" said Lupin as he noted Toshiro's outward struggle.

Toshiro looked at the thief… The red jacket, yellow tie, black pants and shirt, brown shoes…. And he knew that Lupin had on purple socks, and he somehow sensed they were argon. Toshiro shook his head back and forth quickly and picked off a blue silk shirt, "This'll do."

Later that night:

"Where'd you learn to drive like this?" Yukiko asked in a disbelieving laugh as Toshiro made another turn down a New York City street in Lupin's Romeo.

"All I know is that if you take another shortcut through the _'hood _you aren't going to be tap dancing anytime soon," said Lupin from the back seat in a snap as he finished piecing together one of the instruments he would use in his heist for that night.

"What, a crime-filled neighborhood frightens you, Lupin?" Toshiro asked with a chuckle.

"No, the fact that you're driving this car in a crime-filled neighborhood is what frightens me, Tedoe," said Lupin sternly. "If I never get 'nice pimp mobile' shouted at me again it'll be too soon…"

"What'd you call me?" Toshiro asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't ask me; it's not my in-joke," Lupin muttered as he looked over a blueprint, looking back at the faux disco ball he had managed to piece together with a bit of boy scout know-how and about half a dozen glue sticks. "Jeeze, I feel like I'm back in summer camp, minus sneaking into the girls' cabins!"

"I wouldn't think sticky fingers would be a new thing for you, Lupin…" said Yukiko with a chuckle. "What's with the phony, anyway?"

"Oh, just a little showmanship…. That and I want to see exactly how good my papier-mâché skills have gotten," Lupin replied with a shrug. "Stop here, Toshiro."

"This place?" Toshiro asked questioningly as he looked at the beaten-up factory in front of him.

"Yup," Lupin nodded. "That's the place!"

"Lupin, um, no offense, but I know all of the clubs in this area, and this isn't one of them…" Toshiro said as he parked the car across the street and looked at the ominous brick structure. "This… This looks like a friggin' meth lab, Lupin…"

"And there's a reason for that, my young samurai friend," replied Lupin with a chuckle. "You're freakin' Robin Hood, kid… I think you'd be one of the last people to get an invitation… And how in the hell do you even know what a meth lab even looks like?"

"Won't they search us for weapons?" Yukiko asked as she placed her extra rounds in her purse.

"Everybody's got at least one weapon on them; you guys won't be alone…" Lupin explained with a shrug.

"They WHAT?" both shrieked. Lupin gave as shudder and covered his ears.

"I can't decide which one of you guys is more shrill…. Don't worry, like I said before, I wouldn't ask you to do anything you weren't capable of!"

"Yeah, but—" both began in unison.

"Don't worry! It'll be fine!" Lupin waved them off flippantly. "Now you kids have a good time, and if either of you come back with a hickey your parents will be notified."

"Lupin!" both teens shrieked.

"There we go with the harpy voices again…" Lupin sighed and climbed out of the back seat. He also pulled out of the cart a DJ booth, and inside the hollow booth sat all of the tools he would need for the night. He winked, smiled, and then put on his mask. Toshiro and Yukiko then looked to one another and also exited the car. It took a little difficulty finding the entrance, but after they managed to pass by the bouncers with the usual inconvenience, they were shocked to find a huge club inside, with people ranging from Yukiko's age to Lupin's dancing or lounging about the vogue club. There was loud music playing, and the flashing lights were almost impossible to see through at times. They two managed to find their way to the bar, and were also able to acquire two seats.

"I'm glad that we can see each other again, even on these circumstances," said Toshiro as he motioned for a few drinks. He was more than a little surprised when the bartender set down two large martinis in front of them. This didn't seem to phase Yukiko, whoever, and she instead concentrated on her conversation with Toshiro. Lupin wouldn't need their assistance for at least another twenty minutes, by the time on her watch.

"Oh, same, here!" Yukiko replied with a smile. "So what have you been up to, huh? Seeing anyone?"

"I don't have any time," Toshiro answered, failing to include that if it were dealing with Yukiko, he certainly would make the time. "You know, I'm either stealing or acting, it seems… How about you?"

"Heh, wellll…." Yukiko looked off and chuckled.

"Well, what?" a worried Toshiro automatically inquired.

"There's a kid I've been talking to on the shooting range… Spanish guy; I really like them for some reason. Genetic, I guess. Don't tell my dad though, because he's like three years older than me… He's really nice—You'd probably love him, Toshiro!"

_'I'd probably behead him_,' Toshiro thought as his mouth twitched and he absently took a sip of his drink, forgetting exactly what it was he was drinking. He swallowed it hard, feeling it burn his throat… It was more disgusting than many of the meals Goemon had concocted for him while he still lived with his father.

Yukiko gave a laugh, "I didn't realize you drank…"

"Funny. Me, either," Toshiro replied as he set down the drink and shuddered. "How much more time?"

"About fifteen minutes," Yukiko said as she looked down at her watch. "I hope my dad's doing all right… Lupin ended up telling him the truth, and he blew up at him…"

Chicago:

_'I promised I wouldn't worry, but… Damn it Lupin's a moron! What in the hell does he think he's doing, putting Yukiko in that danger?' _Jigen looked upward at the clock and then back down at Ally, who he had been reading a book to. Ming had taken the liberty of placing clear Braille stickers over the large words in the book so Jigen would also be able to read to them. He looked down at Ally once more; it was astounding how much he looked like his father… Jigen's looks had come strictly from his mother; his father had been much more bowling ball shaped. In a white suit, his father looked like a snowman. It didn't matter what suit his father was in though; he almost always acted like the same bastard.

Jigen, fortunately, had managed to steer clear of his father's style of parenting; he stayed home with the children most days and nights while Ming would sometime go out and fight in his place. And now Yukiko fought… Ming was pregnant yet again, and with another girl.

"I'm glad I've got you, buddy, otherwise your old man would be outnumbered…" said Jigen quietly to his son as he lifted Ally up and laid him in his bed. He switched off the light and closed the door. Ally's shrieking could be heard seconds later. Jigen sighed, rolled his eyes and opened the door and turned on the hall light. This had caused Ryo to also begin to worry, and she ran out of her room.

"Daddy, are the bad guys here?" Ryo asked, wide-eyed. Jigen gave a small sigh and walked down the hall, and lifted her up.

"They definitely aren't; if they were, I'd have killed 'um by now!" Jigen said confidently.

"But… You can't see," said Ryo. "And Yuki isn't here to help!"

Jigen's mouth twitched; his own daughter thought he was weak. This didn't help the useless feeling he had grown accustomed to… He would go into bouts of depression, argue with Ming, and usually demand a divorce. He had done this several times, and felt like a jerk for every instance. They'd always seem to go back to normal, though… He didn't dare tell Lupin he had been defined as clinically depressed a year ago but couldn't take the drugs due to conflicts with the medication he took for his vision. He also refused to tell Lupin that he wasn't the first in his family to be declared as such… He didn't want it to sound like he was crazy!

"Is Yuki okay?" asked Ryo as she looked up at her father worriedly and tugged on his beard lightly.

"Yeah, she's fine! As long as Lupin's there, she'll be fine!" said Jigen. "Now don't you worry—Just because I can't see doesn't mean I can't kick an ass or two still!"

"Okay, Daddy," Ryo said quietly as she allowed her father to lay her in her bed. Jigen smiled and pulled the blankets over her, and then worked his way down into the basement. He switched on the lights and then walked down to a room in the back of the basement. He opened the door and switched on the lights to this, as well. He walked in and seated himself upon Yukiko's bed and looked about. With his glasses on he could make out blurred details in one eye, and clearer images in the other. There were posters of Mafia movies as well as musicals. On the dresser was a picture that Jigen remembered well.

He walked over to the dresser, and stared at the framed photo of Sakura and himself, and, although he hadn't known it at the time, Yukiko.

"I'm glad you don't kill me for doing this, Sakura…" Jigen sighed as he looked at his own reflection in the clear glass. He wasn't like the man in the picture; he was older, slower… And although he knew he could do many of the things he could do before, he felt helpless on many levels.

New York:

"Time?" Toshiro asked.

"Time," Yukiko nodded, and left her bar stool. Toshiro looked down at the two martini glasses, and frowned as he noticed Yukiko's was empty, olive and all. Even more bizarre was the fact that she appeared totally unaffected by the alcohol; if Lupin had seen this Yukiko would've been in more trouble than she'd be able to ever imagine.

"I guess she is a Jigen, if I had any doubts before…" Toshiro muttered as he removed his long jacket, keeping his two swords hidden on either side of the jacket, as he had done before.

He ran forward, and began to draw one of his swords, and just as he did this there was a shot and the lights went out. He propelled himself off of a DJ booth and swung, sheathing his sword and tumbling to the ground. He could hear the distinct motion of someone sliding, and when the lights turned on, the jewel encrusted shining ball remained as it had been, spinning obliviously. He watched as a figure in all black crept from beam to beam, a fishing-pole like device in one hand, some string in the other. He decided to quickly hurry out of the club while looking as inconspicuous as possible; the bouncers were already beginning to look for who had caused the disturbance.

Meanwhile, a young pregnant girl and her boyfriend, who looked at least twice the girl's age and then some, were rushing out. Toshiro soon joined the happy couple in the Romeo, and Yukiko pulled out the large shining ball as they sped off into the night.

"I can't believe I had to pretend you were my boyfriend!" Yukiko laughed to Lupin. Toshiro looked over at the smiling Lupin and was suddenly compelled to strangle him, but this was fleeting thought and soon passed by.

"So, who wants dinner, my treat!" Lupin said with a happy shout as he sped down the road.

"Me!" shouted Yukiko and Toshiro quickly.

A Thai restaurant:

"Where'd you learn to speak Thai!" asked Yukiko in awe.

"Thailand," Lupin shrugged. "Spent an evening with a lady friend there…"

"A non-Fujiko lady friend?" asked Yukiko with a chuckle.

"May-be… Anyway, I picked up a few phrases from her; although I can't repeat many of them in the presence of two young, impressionable minds such as yourselves…"

"You've head my dad talk," Yukiko chuckled. "He's awful, especially when he bumps in to something…"

"Yeah, how is Jigen, anyway?" asked Lupin with a laugh. Yukiko paused, blinked, and then turned to Toshiro and inquired jovially as to how his meal was. Lupin knew that he would later have to bring up this subject once again, when they were in private.

"You've got another heist tonight?" Yukiko whispered to Toshiro in awe.

"They aren't heists; they're liberations…" replied Toshiro as he sipped his drink and took a bite into his meal, which consisted of absolutely no poultry. Lupin hadn't seen him pick up as much as a chicken nugget in the time he had spent with Goemon's son.

"You keep busy, huh, Toshiro?" Lupin chuckled. "I'm guessing that doesn't leave for a lot of fun time?"

"Huh? Well, sure, I have fun, too! I spend time with Julia and Kome, and I go ice skating in the winter!" replied Toshiro.

Lupin looked upward skeptically, "I only had one thing on my mind when I was your age, Kid, and it wasn't stealing stuff… More like scoring…."

Toshiro spat out his drink, and Yukiko gave a laugh at Ishikawa's reddened expression. "I… I don't do stuff like that…" Toshiro sputtered.

"Heh, sure… All men are perverts, my mother always told me," said Lupin with a chuckle. "I didn't believe her at the time… And then, my geometry tutor… God she had a set of spheres I could've calculated the circumference of allllll day…"

"You need help," said Yukiko, raising an eyebrow and then taking another bite of her meal.

After the meal, they drove to Toshiro's apartment complex, and Yukiko walked the young samurai up the flight of stairs while Lupin kept the engine running.

"That was a blast—I'd love to do more things like that in the future!" said Toshiro as he walked up the numerous flights of stairs, Yukiko trailing behind him. He turned around and stopped in front of Yukiko. "We make an awesome team!"

"Yeah—You ever think about moving to Chicago?" Yukiko inquired. "My dad would love having you stay with us! We've even got an extra room… It's in the garage, right next to mine! Come on, it'd be awesome! We'd team up just like your dad and mine did a few years back! Who knows, maybe Lupin'll even agree to have you replace Goemon… He has been getting sick a lot and all…"

"He's what?" Toshiro blinked in surprise. He had heard none of this from his father.

"He's just been having a lot of colds is all…. Something about what your grandpa had, and too much inbreeding in the family over the years or something…" Yukiko shrugged. "I dunno… They're throwing a lot of big words around. But what do you think? I mean, I know you love New York and all, but we're both natural thieves, plus I miss having my best friend around me all of the time!"

"Eh… It's, it's a nice offer…" Toshiro looked away and scratched his head, and thought of Julia, Kome, the people he protected, the people who looked up to him. And then there was Yukiko, whom he still adored even after being apart from her, although he wouldn't have told her this to her face. "But, I just have so many people that need me here… Now… I, I'm sorry, I couldn't…. Why don't you move to New York? It's a lot like Chicago…"

"Are you kidding? I've got to stay in Chicago—We just had a guy break-in last month and Ryo's still terrified over it! I had to shoot him down, and thank God I did! There are still people after my dad, even now… If it hadn't been for the fact that Lupin hired a guy to keep watch on everyone while I was out, I probably wouldn't have come… Plus, I really want to see my new sister…"

"So I guess we part ways again?" asked Toshiro solemnly.

"I guess," said Yukiko with a frown. "Hey, were you telling the truth to Lupin about never going out thing?"

"Eh, no, not really…." Toshiro admitted. "I had a girlfriend for a little while, but she thought I was cheating on her—Wh, which I wasn't!"

Yukiko gave a smile and embraced him. "Well, you'll meet a nice girl one day, I'm sure of it… Bye for now, Toshiro…."

"Bye," Toshiro said as he closed his eyes and also embraced her.

Yukiko took a step back, smiled, and exited. Toshiro heaved a sigh, and unlocked his door. They were both too busy for one another, it seemed. It more than likely would remain that way for a while. He tossed his shoes aside and walked into his room, passing Julia's room along the way. He also passed by Julia's newest boyfriend, who was in the kitchen. Toshiro was too tired to scare this one away, as he had with many others. Things had become a little more than confusing, but one thing had made itself certain during the night; he might as well give up on any sort of relationship with Yukiko.

Back down on the New York street, Lupin smiled as he watched Yukiko hop out of the apartment building and back into his car.

"So, did you kiss him, or did he take the incentive?" Lupin asked as he found his way back into the circulation of traffic.

"Ha ha… He's just a friend," said Yukiko with a shrug.

"Ohhh… Those are the worst!" Lupin chuckled. "That means that you two are definitely going to hook up at at least one point and have a couple of little samurai/cowboy brats! I can't wait to be a great-uncle!"

"Don't hold your breath," Yukiko advised, "Like I said, he's a cool, friend, but that's it…"

Lupin smirked and nodded, and then looked over towards his young accomplice, "You never did tell me how your dad was doing…"

"Dad…. Well, dad's dad," Yukiko shrugged.

"…That bad, neh?"

"I know he doesn't want me to see it… But he's jealous…" Yukiko frowned. "He isn't mean about it, though, but every time I go off with you I just know that he wants it to be him, like he wants one more shot, literally… Mom even ended up hiding his guns on him, so he doesn't even have that!"

"And that'd be like me getting sent to a monastery," Lupin concluded as he made another turn toward their hotel. "With three kids and another on the way I'd go crazy… The twins are hard enough…. I'm just grateful that it'll get easier once their older and able to take care of themselves! I may be an extraordinary guy, but I want what everyone wants for their kids; for them to get married and have their own kids and have their own lives… Jigen wants that for you two, Yuki, he just didn't know at the time what kind of price he'd pay for you to have it… He's proud of you though, don't get me wrong!"

"I wish there was a way to get him back in action, though…" said Yukiko as she slouched in her seat. "He just looks so bored all of the time… Plus, this is the guy who five years ago could kill a man without a second thought; now he's memorized Raffi albums…"

"Eww…. Yeah, at least he doesn't have to put up with the torture that is _Oui__ Oui_," Lupin shuddered. "Ya think American television's bad… French children's programming… Never liked it…"

"Didn't you grow up on French TV?"

"Yeah, but I had _Asterix_and _Tin Tin_…."

"A guy who fought foreigners and a detective… Go figure…" Yukiko chuckled and rolled her eyes. "So you'll talk to him about it?"

"Yup, you have a deal, young lady!" Lupin smiled widely and stretched one arm across the top of the seat. "So… Since we're off the subject of Toshiro, who's that guy you hang out with at the shooting range?"

Yukiko looked at Lupin like a deer would look at a set of oncoming headlights, and cleared her throat. "A friend of mine!"

"Yeah, well, if your friend tries anything funny, he'll have me, Jigen and Goemon on his ass—Hell, I'll even call in Zenigata; he always liked you. Didn't your dad even make a rule about dating before you were sixteen?"

"….You're too nosy!" Yukiko yelped.

"Just looking out for you," Lupin replied.

"Whatever—You're not stalking him, are you?"

"Define 'stalking'…."

"Lupin!"

"Okay, I'm joking, I'm joking!" Lupin replied, but this was a clear lie. He had tracking devices on the boy's car, Amaya had done background checks on him, and Ming had taken some of the boy's DNA down to a local lab to get him checked out. It was all out of love, though.

Chicago, the next evening:

"Why in the hell are you driving me here?" Jigen asked Lupin as he looked at his watch, and then at Ally, who was in a child seat between his father and Lupin. In the backseat sat a smiling Yukiko, and Ryo, who busied herself looking out at the scenery.

"You'll see…" Lupin smiled widely as he pulled up to an abandoned building. "Here we are!"

Jigen put on his glasses and looked upward at the two-story building. "What's here?"

"Come on in," Lupin removed a set of keys from his pocket and opened the glass door, and disappeared into the interior of the shop. Yukiko soon followed, holding on to Ryo's hand, and Jigen was the last, and carefully made his way in after he had unbuckled Ally from his car seat.

"Woo-hoo!" Lupin slid down the banister of a flight of stairs that led to the second story and hopped off. "What do you think of this place, Jigen?"

"It's…. I still don't get it, Lupin, what is this?" asked Jigen as he looked about in confusion. He knew something was definitely up by the smile Yukiko wore while her father tried to piece things together.

"Yukiko and I acquired a small fortune a few nights ago, as I'm sure you're well aware, and after we divided up the shares—One for you and Ming for letting me take Yuki, one for Yuki, one for Toshiro and one for me, of course—We had a little leftover and nothing to do with it… So we thought you were bored, and I'm looking for a good man to run a 'bookstore' for me…."

"You said bookstore weird…. There somethin' you ain't telling me?" asked Jigen.

"He needs someone to run a black-market weapons shop," replied Yukiko.

Lupin gave a small sigh and looked downward at the young shootist. "A little too blunt for my liking, but that's exactly what I need…. You may not have the skill you once had, Jigen, but that doesn't mean you don't have the knowledge… I think you'd be just the guy for the job…"

"So you're giving me this building?" Jigen asked as he attempted to let this all sink in. He took a few steps forward and looked upward at the ceiling.

"Don't think of it as charity—Just think of it as an early birthday gift," Lupin put his hands in his pockets pulled out the keys with one hand. "So, what do you say?"

Jigen paused, and then slowly approached Lupin and took the keys. "How much of the profits do you get out of this?"

"We'll talk about profits later… Do you want this gig or not?"

Jigen had to suppress grabbing the keys from Lupin's hand out of pure anxious excitement at the thought of finally having something to do, something that was a slight change from his previous jobs, but illegal and up his alley all the same. He took the keys from Lupin and smirked. "You got a deal…"

"Good. Well, we'll be off then. First shipment of books is coming at one-thirty…" Lupin said as he looked down at his watch. "Expect the other toys to arrive in a few weeks…"

"Wait—Isn't like, close to one-thirty already?" asked Jigen worriedly. The blare of a honking truck horn could be heard outside, and Jigen gaped at the front door and then looked to Lupin. "Damn it, I don't even have the shelves set up yet!"

"Heh… Well, you won't be bored for a while…" Lupin took Ally from Jigen's arms and smiled. "Have a good time, Buddy…"

Jigen, by this time might have called Lupin a son of a bitch or even a rat-assed monkey-faced bastard, but he had little time for this as a man in a brown uniform walked in, rolling in several cases of books. Jigen was taken aback by this, and barely noticed Lupin and Yukiko leave with Ally and Ryo as he motioned for where the deliveryman should place the numerous heavy boxes.

"I think he's happy," said Yukiko as she opened the back door for Ryo and then moved Ally's car-seat to the back and then buckled in the youngest Jigen with Lupin's assistance. She hopped into the front seat next to Lupin. "It was nice of you not to tell him exactly how much of the money you used…"

"Well, your father's a proud man, and he would've felt in debt, and Jigen hates to be in debt…" replied Lupin as he pulled out a map from the glove box and unfolded it. "You busy Saturday, Yukiko?"

"Um… Not really… Why do you ask?" Yukiko asked as she looked down at the map, which was written in some bizarre foreign language.

"I need to make a stop in Sudan before I head on home… How'd you like to come?"

"Well, I'd say Dad'll need me, but I think he'll manage," Yukiko smiled as she looked back at the shop. She could see her father already yelling at the deliveryman, showing off a stereotypical Italian temper as he made what appeared to be suggestive gesticulations to the deliveryman as his back was turned.

"Good! It's a date, then!" Lupin smiled and threw the map over his shoulder and started up the car.

"Dad said you're not allowed to date!" Ryo snapped from the backseat. Ally simply repeated a garbled form of what Ryo had said chidingly to Yukiko, and laughed.

"Hey, I'm better than that guy at the shooting range, I'll tell you that," Lupin muttered.

"Would you quit mentioning him? He's a friend!" Yukiko shouted.

"Uh-huh, and I watch soap operas…"

"You never know," Yukiko smirked and adjusted her fedora over her eyes, and leaned against the seat of her car, her hat covering her face. Lupin looked over to Yukiko, and could see his gunman partner in her. She had definitely taken more than a few of her father's characteristics over the years, and Lupin was both curious and frightened to see which other traits or his she would take on as the years passed. It would be one of the more interesting transitions he would watch for in years to come. From a scared little girl in a frilly dress who had popped up on a hotel doorstep to the hot-tempered teen that currently sat in as Lupin's copilot… Lupin was convinced that no matter what she did in later years, he wouldn't be surprised by it.


	4. The Kind of Boy you can't Forget

Disclaimer: ….Why in the hell am I doing this? You know the drill!

Well, here's the Max story… Yaoi fans rejoice—As for my male fans or non-yaoi fans, my apologies… If you don't like this stuff and decide to skip over it, you won't really miss anything here… And by the way, here: Go here if you love me. Copy and paste it. It's artwork from the series. I'll also post this link in the upcoming chapter of _View from the Storm's Eye_. Hope ya'll like! Thanks to Yuki for all of her help in making it possible to post them online!

Story Four: The Kind of Boy you can't Forget

Setup: So, why did Max leave the Rabbinical school, and what did Natasha call Lupin about? You're about to find out here.

"Thanks… You really saved me, there," a young Max Zenigata said to his new friend, Jake. The Romanian immigrant had saved Max's skin; that was for certain.

"Not a problem!" replied Jake with a smile, "So, what are you doing later, eh, what's your name again?"

"Maxwell, but I like to be called Max," replied Max with a smile. "And I'm not doing anything later…. Well, I'm not exactly doing anything right now, either."

"You want to go out to the movies, Max? I'm still new here," Jake explained. "My family just moved here from Eastern Europe about three months ago. I've been too busy unpacking to really go out and make friends."

"Sure, I'd really like that…" Max blinked a few times in surprise, and allowed Jake to lead him out to the parking lot while understanding that later in the evening he would have hell to pay from his parents for not attending school on his first day. Max was stunned at how expensive Jake's car was, and Jake chuckled at Max's reaction.

"Yeah… My family is well off, I guess you could say," Jake gave a smile and a shrug and seated himself in the driver's side. "You don't drive yet, do you, Max?"

"No…" Max looked downward and flushed; he felt like a child for not driving or doing many of the same things it was apparent Jake did. There were cigarettes in the ashtray of the car, and CDs lying liberally about.

"You can pick out a CD to play," Jake said while backing out of his tight parking space. "Would you mind lighting up a cigarette for me?"

"Umm… Sure…" Max found the pack of cigarettes and a lighter upon the floor, and his face went red as he found literature of a very graphic nature beneath his car seat.

"Wh… What made you want to take the religious route?" Max sat up once again and placed a cigarette in his mouth, and fumbled with the lighter.

"Looking for enlightenment and hopefully the answer to a few questions," Jake responded, stopping at a red light. "You?"

"My parents are trying to straighten me out," Max answered in a low voice. He was caught off guard as Jake removed the cigarette from his mouth and placed it in his own.

"So are you bi, or gay, or something?" Jake looked over at Max and watched Zenigata's emotional features become pale. Jake paused, and cleared his throat as he saw how uncomfortable he had made Max, "I'm really sorry, Max, that was out of line. I was just told that Americans were open about those sorts of things is all."

"That's all right," Max responded quietly. "I thought we were going to the movies…" he watched them pass by the theater, and Jake shrugged, continuing to look straight ahead at the crooked road.

"Well, change of plans… If that's okay with you, that is. Have you ever been to any clubs?"

"A few… More like bars…."

"Ah! I see you aren't a raver or anything…"

Max looked upward at Jake with worry, "Like those guys who drop ecstasy and use the glow sticks?"

Jake gave a laugh, and reached over and ruffled Zenigata's hair, "You're cute…."

Max had no idea how to take this, and turned away, looking out his car window, "That would be fun to go to… I don't do any sort of drugs, though. Except maybe cigarettes, but I have to be careful about those. If my dad finds out about those he'd kick my ass… Again. I still have bruises from the last battle we had… And he's got a few himself."

"I'm not asking you to," Jake answered quickly with his look of amusement unfailing. They pulled up to Jake's house, or, more appropriately, mansion. Max's uncles had homes this large, but he himself lived in a typical single-family home with his mother and father. Zenigata looked about the gardens as they passed, and noted how silent it was as Jake led him inside the large home.

"My parents aren't home; they're visiting associates in Monaco," Jake explained as he began to lead Max up the stairs and into his room, which was cluttered with posters of a language unknown to Zenigata. "You can borrow some of my clothes… I know you're a little shorter than me, but I don't think it'll make that big a difference."

"Thanks again…" Max looked about Jake's closet as they both stepped in, and tried to suppress a groan. He was literally in the closet.

He had been feeling strange about the whole dating thing for a while… He had found numerous girls attractive, but something had always made him uncomfortable around them. He could just relate to men better, he found.

"Hey, how about these?" Jake tossed Max a shirt and pair of pants, and Zenigata looked downward at the outfit, which was much too bright compared to his usual attire of blacks, browns and grays, and nodded his approval.

"Jake, why'd you ask me earlier if I was straight?" Max asked as he shed his jacket and set it upon Jake's bed.

"I wanted to know if you'd be comfortable at some of the clubs I like to go to," Jake answered with a shrug as he began to change and then walked in front of his mirror and began to style his shaggy hair. He smiled over at Max and pushed Zenigata's bangs out of the way while Max was concentrating on buttoning his shirt, and Max jumped in surprise, being caught off guard by this gesture.

"You're really jumpy," said Jake with a chuckle. "I like that, though. That's kinda likable in a guy, in my opinion."

"Um, thanks," Max looked off ward, and felt his red grow red for no apparent reason. Jake smiled and patted Max on the shoulder, and they then left for the clubs Jake had spoken of, Max calling his parents along the way to let them know of his ventures.

"Wait, you're going out with people who aren't in a gang?" Natasha muttered over the phone, obviously impressed. "What's this person like?"

"Really nice guy," Max answered as he briefly looked over at Jake and found a smile upon the Romanian's mouth at these words.

"Your son will be safe with me for the next eight to nine hours, ma'am!" Jake called over the phone, bringing a laugh even to Natasha.

"All right, but I want to meet your new friend. I love you, Max," said Natasha, still chuckling quietly.

"Sure thing, Mom!" Max hung up the phone and sighed in relief as he sat back in his car seat. "I can't believe she actually likes you! She usually hates my friends!"

"How'd your parents meet, anyway? I mean, Israeli and Japanese… That isn't exactly a common meeting…"

"Yeah, I know…. They met through a mutual, well, I guess you could call him a friend," Max answered with a shrug. "You might know about Lupin the Third."

"Yes, he stole a valuable painting from my father's some years ago," Jake nodded. He then looked over at Max's distressed expression and laughed. "Don't worry, it wasn't your fault! It was an ugly picture, anyway… I was glad to see it go; it scared me when I was little…. So they met through Lupin… Interesting… That's kind of a cool family story!"

"Heh, yeah," Max looked downward at the floorboard of the car and studied his shoes for a few moments in complete silence. "It is a weird mixture, though… I don't always like it…"

"Why not? Girls go for exotic guys… Personally, I score it big because of my accent!"

Max laughed and shook his head, "I'm not really big into dating… Girls… They, um, how do I put this?"

"Talk too damn much?"

"Yes!" Max laughed and slapped Jake on the arm lightly as he did so. "And also, with the magazine quizzes?"

"According to those, I'm a metrosexual sociopath," Jake chuckled. "So you do date girls, huh? If you don't like them, why don't you switch?"

"Eh, it's not that simple," Max admitted and scratched the back of his head. "Listen, I'm not really comfortable talking about things like this… It's not you, it's just… There's stuff I'm still…"

"I understand," Jake nodded, and Max blinked in realization as he became aware of his new friend parking his car. "We're here… I hope your parents don't mind, but we'll probably be a while."

"It's okay, it's not a school night or anything," Max muttered and slid out of his car seat and looked about the parking garage. "I know some of these people… They're people from school…"

"Yeah, let's just say that we aren't alone," Jake muttered as he stepped out of the car and retrieved his jacket. Max did the same, and followed behind his new friend, still a little unsure as to how to take the busy downtown surroundings. He followed the Romanian closely into the first club, which was mainly the Spanish crowd… There were several others after this own, a couple in which Max was asked not only by girls to dance but also by young men. He accepted offers from both, sputtering in nervousness in each instance.

"Damn, four in the morning?" Jake laughed as he looked down at the illuminated clock upon his dashboard. "We must have been out for, like, ten hours, Max!... Max?" Jake looked over to the side and noted Zenigata had fallen asleep. He smiled and reached over for his jacket, and placed it over Max's shoulders.

Two months later:

"Do you even know what your house looks like anymore, Jake?" Natasha asked laughingly as she passed the living room and set down the cookies she had recently made in front of the two young men.

"…Um, I think there were windows, Ma'am. Yes, as I can recall, we had windows," Jake replied, and Max gave a small laugh. Natasha in turn smiled at this; she loved to see her son laugh, she loved to see him happy… And Jake had brought out all of this in him.

"I'll leave you two to do whatever it is you do… Oh, Max, remember your dad and I are—"

"Heading to France to visit Lupin and Fujiko."

"Exactly, and that we're—"

"Going to be gone for two weeks. So the house is all mine."

"Exactly… So while I'm out—"

"No wild parties or anything, no setting the house ablaze," Max rolled his eyes, stood and kissed his mother on the forehead. "Mom, I'll be fine, I swear."

"I'll take good care of him, Mrs. Zenigata," Jake winked and sat back on the couch.

"Good," Natasha nod and embraced her son. "I love you so much!"

"Mom!" Max moaned.

"I know, I know, I'm embarrassing you," Natasha let go of her grip but kept her hands on Max's shoulders. "Your dad'll want to tell you bye, too… I can't believe you're old enough to be left alone here now!"

"Mom! Could you go get Dad?" Max sighed and tried to bring the redness of his face down by turning away from her.

"Bye, Jacob," Natasha kissed Jake atop the head as she had her own son, and jaunted out to her car.

"I hope your dad doesn't try to kiss me like that," said Jake to Max in a low chuckle.

"Eh, Dad's not much in the way for affection like that," Max said with some relief in his voice. He watched his father exit, his carryon in hand and his passport in his other hand. "Speak of the goyem."

"Ha ha… Your mother should've never have taught you that word," Zenigata patted his son on the shoulder and smiled the best his stern features would allow him. "You have fun, Max… Get into the beer and I'll murder you."

"Don't worry, if he needs it, I'll buy it for him but make sure he stays home if he gets drunk, Mr. Z!" Jake smiled, and Zenigata hid his weary expression from his son's friend. Jake's cheery personality wore him out, almost as much as Max's moodiness did.

"Have a good time, you two," Zenigata waved them off and Jake and Max remained silent until they heard the door close, signaling his parents' exit.

Max looked to Jake, and Jake turned to Max, and both said, "…Clubs…" They walked upstairs to Max's room, and immediately began to change for the evening, Max having to pull away several boxes at the bottom of his closet to reach a box of new clothing he had bought for the purpose of his and Jake's trips.

"A new place opened up tonight," Jake announced. "I'll drive us there, it ought to be nice…."

"Is something the matter?" Max looked over his shoulder and Jake shook his head, and continued to button his shirt.

"Nah, nothing important," Jake answered with a shrug. "Let's just go already…"

"Oh, okay," Max nodded and began to walk toward the stairs down to the first level before stopping. "Wait, I almost forgot something!"

"Your purse?" Jake asked with a chuckle.

"Ha ha… Just wait for me, okay?" Max ran into the bathroom next to his room and came back to an impatient Jake minutes later, now without his glasses but instead with a pair of contacts in place. "I got these a few weeks ago…"

"Wow, Max, they look great on you! You should've worn those earlier! They don't hide your face like those glasses do!" Jake was obviously impressed, and patted Zenigata on the back once before walking down the stairs beside him.

They took Jake's car to a downtown area, and to a club whose orientation Max immediately recognized. "I… I don't know about this…" Zenigata murmured as he watched male/male numerous couples enter.

"Relax, let them know you're with me if things get out of control, or if some scary guy hits on you," Jake patted Max on the hand, a curious gesture to the young blond, and they stepped out of his car and into the loud club. Max soon lost track of Jake, but found his way to the bar, and seated himself on one of the stools. Without even being asked, he had a drink poured for him, and gratefully accepted it. The alcohol kept getting poured without Max's paying much attention to the fact that the portion in his glass was not shrinking. After three drinks worth, Jake managed to catch up to Max, and Zenigata was working up a decent buzz from the alcohol, and was swinging back and forth on his stool.

"How're you holding up, buddy?" Jake smiled and broke little of his dancing stride, keeping in rhythm with the music by swaying back and forth a bit.

Max lurched forward and brought his arms around the back of Jake's neck, "Take me now, you beautiful son of a bitch…"

"….O-kay…. I think this is the part where we leave…." Jake tilted his head to a side and blinked a few times, registering this statement slowly but fully. He helped Max to stand up from his stool, and he nearly tumbled down a flight of stairs in the alley as Max swung his weight about suddenly.

"Okay, Max, just hold on… You know, I was only joking with your dad when I said I was going to get you drunk," Jake was angry at his friend's poor decision, but he could not stay mad at him long, especially with the state he was in.

"How're you doing back there, Max?" Jake looked in his rearview at Zenigata, whom he had laid in the back seat of his car.

"I'm gonna be sick," Max muttered and turned over, his back to the mirror. He had curled himself up on the back seat, and held his arms close to his chest while he tried to keep the room from spinning.

Jake drove Max home and walked him all the way to the bathroom, and just in time. He placed his hands on Max's shoulders while Zenigata embraced the toilet like a long-lost relative, and pushed Max's bangs away from his eyes.

"I'll go make you some coffee," Jake said when Max had finished and resigned himself to laying his chin on a towel on the rim of the toilet.

"I love you," Max said in a still-drunken manner. Jake paused a few moments, sighed and exited the bathroom, keeping the door ajar in order to hear Max while he worked away in the kitchen. He led his drunk friend into the kitchen, and fed him two aspirin and a cup of coffee at the kitchen table.

About an hour after taking both cures, Max's hangover had begun to set in, and his drunken euphoria quickly escaped him like a fading memory.

"I didn't do anything stupid, did I?" by one in the morning Max sat with his second serving of coffee and an ice pack upon his head, dressed in one of his father's kimonos while Jake sat opposite of him, wearing a pair of track pants and a shirt he had found in Max's room.

"Nothing too bad," Jake lied and looked over toward the fake fruit bowl in the center of the table, and rolled his eyes at the thoughts that entered his mind as he glanced over the plastic fruit. "Why don't we get you to bed?"

"That… Sounds good…" Max nodded slowly as to not jar his brain anymore than it already was and allowed Jake to help him up the stairs and into his room. "Thanks… For helping me… It means a lot…"

"Hey, what are friends for?" Jake chuckled and shrugged. He eased Max down onto the bed and looked over the pathetic sight of an almost helpless Zenigata. "I'll stay in the guest room, okay?"

"No, please stay in here," Max muttered, rolling away from Jake in order not to face him, as he had done before. "Please?"

"Max, I… Listen…"

"Jake…"

"All right," Jake smiled and laid down on the bed next to his friend. "You gonna be okay?"

"Hopefully," said Max quietly.

Three weeks later:

Max crumbled up another paper from his desk and tossed it into the wastebasket to his right, making another shot. He had always been bad at writing letters, and often the writing process worked this way for him, and as a result he was an excellent basketball player, despite his height.

Natasha smiled as she looked in on her son and slowly crept into the room, creeping up behind Max and laying her hands upon his shoulders, which jumped at the contact.

"What are you writing, sweetie?" Natasha asked quietly as she looked over Max's shoulder at the paper. He quickly covered this with a pile of other paperwork and continued to stare down at his desk.

"Nothing," Max muttered.

"Come on, let me see…" Natasha pulled the paper away and smiled at the language. "Hebrew? You're practicing?... You're doing homework?"

"Yeah. So I—"

"Wait a second," Natasha giggled as she scanned over the letter. "You met someone? Oh my gosh, is this a love letter!"

"Mom!" Max shouted and pulled the note away from her hands. "It's nothing, all right!"

"What's she like?"

"_Mom_…."

Natasha gave a heavy sigh and rolled her eyes, "Fine, fine… But I want to meet her after you give her the letter and says 'yes', all right? There's no way anyone could say no to you, Maxie… You have my good looks and your dad's charm."

"Sure. Could you just… Go? Please?"

"Okay, I'm gone," Natasha smiled and backed out of the bedroom, nearly tumbling over one of the numerous piles in Max's room.

"Dad, charm. Phmf," Max snorted and turned back to his letter, and back to his personal battle with pen and paper.

"Koichi," Natasha opened the door to the study and addressed her husband quietly, trying to suppress her joy. Her husband was much too involved with the task at hand, however. That task being cataloging a box of coins he and Max had recently found during one of their recent forced 'bondings' that Natasha pushed both to participate at least once a week.

Last week had been clean the basement, and the box had hit Zenigata's son right on the head. Zenigata then snapped at Max for the curses that spewed from his mouth, but he did not hit him. After what had occurred between them when it had been discovered Max had joined a gang, he dare not hit his son. The guilt over doing such a thing still sometimes consumed him.

"Koichi!" Natasha raised her voice a little and closed the door behind her, then seated herself on the desk where he had been at work. "I need to talk with you…"

"What'd he do now?" Zenigata muttered without looking up from his box.

"Met a girl," Natasha answered. Zenigata dropped the coin he had been appraising and looked upward, as if not believing and not hearing this around the first go. "I just caught him writing a note to her…"

Zenigata smirked and flicked the coin back into the box, "Well, I kind of figured he'd get interested in dating around this age… Just like his old man! Um…. Any idea what she looks like, or what her name is at least? A fingerprint would work, too."

"No, so you can't run a background check on her…"

"Come on, like you've never done that with his friends!"

"Only twice, and both cases proved to be in good judgment," Natasha leaned over and kissed her husband, and pressed her forehead against his. "If she comes over, no Lupin stories… Promise… I thought they were neat to hear, but she wouldn't… And Jake doesn't, either."

"What are you talking about? He loves it when I tell him those!"

"He's just polite, Koichi," Natasha answered and leaned back on the desk. "And frightened of you. You get this certain… Glint… When you talk about Lupin…"

"Glint?"

"Mm-hm. I think it's cute, though."

" 'Cute'? Only you'd think that," murmured the ex-Interpol inspector. He sighed and rose from his place at the desk. "Well, I guess it's time for that talk…"

Natasha smiled and placed a hand on his arm, "You sure you don't want me to?... Or is it more of a 'guy' thing?"

"Heh, I just have memories of my mother trying to talk with me about it, and they aren't happy ones," Zenigata responded.

"Knowing your family, you were the probably the first to even get a 'talk'…. You guys are all a traditional bunch."

"Yours aren't? I don't think I've seen a woman in your family who isn't in a skirt and scarf except for you."

"Have fun. Call me if you need backup," Natasha kissed him on the check and went to cleaning the room while Zenigata marched out and across to Max's room. He knocked on the door and entered as Max voiced his entry.

"Hey, there, Kid…" Zenigata cleared his throat and seated himself upon Max's bed, looking over his back and then raising an eyebrow as he pulled out a pair of shoes he had sat upon, and tossed them upon the floor. "Why don't you have a seat over here?"

"Eh, okay…. Dad, if it's about the lawn decorations, I—"

"It's not about those, even though I'm now a little scared to ask," Zenigata blinked a few times, and looked over to make sure he had closed the door behind him while Max seated himself next to his father. "Um…. Wow, this isn't going to be easy, but I'll try it…"

"You and mom aren't getting a divorce, are you?"

"Hell, no! Like it'd be easy for me to find someone to put up with me this late in the game! It's not like I'm a spring chick anymore… Hell, I don't even think I qualify as winter fowl at this point…"

"Anyway…"

"Yeah," Zenigata cleared his throat, and tried to think of how he would approach this. He had practice this enough, but it was usually played out in his head. The great detective was now drawing a complete blank as to what to say. "Your mom told me you were writing to—"

"How fast does news travel around here, anyway?" Max yelped and nearly sprang from the bed.

"Stay calm, I'm not going to say anything, or ask you about her… I'm actually glad that you're getting out there and dating now. But with dating comes a wholeeee bunch of new rules, and a lot of responsibilities."

"Oh G-d, this is the talk, isn't it?" Max's eyes widened, and his father flushed at these words.

"Errr… Yeah…. Maxwell, are those your cigarettes?" Zenigata eyed a pack of Marlboros on Max's shelf, and his son shook his head.

"They're Jake's," Max lied. "It's an Eastern European thing…"

"Hm, I'm so sure. I just better not see any more of these in your room. Bring them over here and crack your window," Zenigata ordered, and Max did so obediently, thinking his father would toss these out the window. He blinked with surprise as he watched his father pull a match from a trouser pocket, ignite it on the sole of his shoe, and light the cigarette. He extinguished the match and set it aside, and looked upward at Max. "Don't tell your mother about this."

"Only if I can join you."

"That's extortion, and if you tell her I'm ending your allowance," his father answered darkly. "Now come here," Zenigata leaned against the wall while he remained seated on the bed, and rested the hand with the cigarette on the window sill. Max joined him, sitting cross-legged beside him on the bed. "Anyway, I have the feeling you've learned a lot about this through cable or whatever the hell it is you look up on the computer. I know that's there's stuff I wouldn't like on there. As long as I'm not seein' it, it ain't there. As long as it's legal, otherwise we'll go round and round about it."

Max dare not tell his father that what was on his computer consisted mainly of shounen-ai and yaoi comics, but allowed him to continue.

"I just wanted to know if there were any questions you had about anything…. I'm not sure about a lot of this stuff myself… But I figure I can always call that little weasel in France for a translation if I don't know what the hell it is you're talking about."

"Lupin?"

"Lupin," Zenigata responded with a nod. "He may be a little jerk, but he's one of my best friends… You better not repeat that, though."

"You have my word," Max said with a smirk. "And about the question thing, um…"

"Yeah?"

"It's nothing," Max shook his head briskly. "You're right; cable's pretty much summed it up for me!"

"Good, it that case I'll give you something. I don't want you to have to use them, ideally, but I don't want any grandchildren from you, either."

Max placed his hands in his face and moaned, "Not right now…. If I need them, I'll let you know. Just, like, leave me a box or something in here."

"You got it," Zenigata nodded and turned to his son. "…I think is the part where I hug you or something."

"Could we just assume you did and let it be the end?"

"Gotcha," Zenigata rose and nodded. "Good luck with her, Max."

"Thanks, Dad," Max replied quietly and watched his father exit the door. Max slowly closed the window, and wiped his eyes against his shirt sleeve. "I was hoping that they didn't get involved in this…" He looked upward at the clock and let out a deep breath; only a few hours until his parents left for dinner and Jake arrived. He would have to hurry with his letter.

Later that night, Max made sure he had cleaned his room, but did not allow his parents in, in order to avoid suspicion. He watched them exit from his perch at his bedroom window, and then went to work getting himself ready for the evening. Jake had also mentioned having something important to tell him, but Max was much too worried already to wonder exactly what it was.

Jake found the door unlocked when he walked up to the door, and locked it behind him. He then went in search of his friend, and had no farther than Max's bedroom to see the blonde Zenigata sitting there upon his desk chair, tapping a pencil.

"Hey," Jake smiled and set his coat aside. "Are you okay? You look a little, I dunno, stressed."

"It's nothing," Max shook his head and shakily rose from his desk. "You said you had something to tell me?"

"You told me you had something first, so you go ahead with your big surprise. Come on and shock me, Copperfield," Jake gave a chuckle which faded and formed a look of interest as Max passed him a piece of paper, Max's nth revision of his letter. Jake opened it and scanned over it, and gave a laugh. "Woah, man! Congrats! Now, who's the lucky lady this is going out to, and why haven't I met her?" he moved over to Max and began to put Zenigata in a headlock, which Max quickly worked his way out of.

"You don't understand," Max sputtered quietly, taking a step back.

"What's not to understand? You're in love with someone."

"You… You know them…." Max said quietly, and looked away from Jake.

"How? All of my friends are guys and—Max, are you…? Ohhhh… There's nothing wrong with it. I still love you, buddy. You're my best friend!"

"And I love you, too," Max choked and then looked to the door as a silence followed them. "I-I I'm sorry about this. You should go; you don't want to hear about this, it was a stupid idea."

Jake took Zenigata by the shoulders, and Max looked upward, stunned, "Are you sure about this, Max? About this letter? You're saying it's to me?"

"Very, and, yes…" Max nodded. "I'm sorry if you… I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have even written it!"

"It's okay, Max… You don't have to get upset enough to cry," Jake said to an upset Max quietly and placed a hand upon his face. He kissed Zenigata on the forehead and then took a step back. "Well, now what do we do?"

"I don't know… I hadn't thought this through far enough," Max shrugged. "Listen, I've got to get some aspirin… I've… I've got a big headache now…"

"I can't blame you," Jake sighed and gave a small smile, and followed Max into his parents' room. Max found the pills in the medicine cabinet and downed two dry, and walked back into the adjoining bedroom. "How are you feeling?"

"Sick," Max admitted and seated himself on his parents' bed and looked forward numbly. "What'd you want to tell me?"

"Nothing quite that shocking," Jake admitted with a chuckle. "It'll wait, though. I like you too, Max."

"Are you serious?" Max muttered, and looked upward at Jake with a mixture of relief and shock.

"Very," Jake nodded, bent down and kissed Max lightly. He looked at Max's stunned expression and laughed. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah…. I'm terrific, actually," Max responded.

"Good," Jake gave another laugh and seated himself next to Max. "When do your parents get back?"

"…Twelve, I think," Max replied breezily. "Why?"

"Because that'll give us enough time…"

"Er, for what?"

"Nothing you won't be comfortable with, I swear it."

A restaurant across town:

"I forgot; my curling iron's on," Natasha gasped in the middle of their meal.

"We'll call Max and have him shut it off," Zenigata shrugged indifferently.

"He's out with Jake, we can't ruin their night," Natasha said with an almost begging tone in her voice.

"Fine, we'll get to go," Zenigata sighed and motioned for the waiter. He had had to go through old police buddies to get the restaurant to reserve the table they were at, but he would not bring this up with Natasha right now. It would wait for when one of their eventual arguments sprang up.

They were soon back in the car, and on their way home, "Yeesh, I even left the light in our room on! It's only when I start to turn gray that I become such a dumb blonde!" Natasha sighed and rolled her eyes as they pulled up to their driveway.

"See, Max is home, there's Jake's car. Let's go," Zenigata said quickly and to-the-point.

"I'll just go check on them, see if they need anything…" Natasha stepped out of the car and smiled, and rushed into the house.

"…She's lucky I love her," Zenigata muttered to himself, and glanced down at his watch.

Natasha removed her high heels before entering the home, and then quietly walked up to the second story, where Max's door was still open. She found it curious that neither her son nor her 'stepson' were in the room, and that Max had cleaned it. She frowned at the numerous Jude Law posters in his room, and heard noise coming from her room.

The Zenigatas kept weaponry all about the house for safety measures (both had made numerous enemies over the years), and she opened the linen closet, pulled out a berretta, and stalked to her door. She then swung it opened and let out a scream of surprise at the sight in front of her.

"M-mom!" Max yelped and sat up. Jake said nothing, only turned very pale and pulled some of the sheets about him.

"W…. What's g-going on here?" Natasha asked in horror. "Jake, I think you should leave."

"Yes, Ma'am," Jake nodded, rose, gathered his things and quickly exited the room.

Natasha slammed the door behind Jake and let out a dry gulp in order to get some moisture back in her mouth, "You… And another boy… In your parents room?"

"Mom, things just happened," Max sputtered, staring down at the gun in his mother's hand uneasily.

"If there weren't a war going on, I'd send you to the military right now!" Natasha yelled.

"Mom, just calm down, please," Max found his shirt and pulled it on and then finished dressing, and rose to embrace his mother. "Please calm down…"

"It wasn't a letter for a girl, was it?" Natasha wept.

"Um, no," Max looked downward at the floor and sighed. He hadn't met for them to find out this way. It was obvious that he had once again managed to disappointment someone in his life. "Mom, please spot crying? Why are you home, anyway?"

"I left the curling iron on," Natasha answered.

"I turned it off, don't worry…. Mama, please don't cry," Max begged and embraced his mother tighter. "I'm sorry…. I just… It's who I am, I guess. I didn't want you to find out this way, though."

Natasha sighed and seated herself in a chair in the corner of her room and tossed Max her cell phone. "Call your father, he's still in the car."

"Yeah… I just hope he picks up…" Max muttered, dialed his father's number, and waited, and waited.

Zenigata looked down at the phone with great consternation before picking it up, fiddling with the buttons and then finally answering for his son, "Hello?"

"Dad, Mom's not feeling good," said Max as he walked back in forth in his parents' room. "Do you think you could pick her up some of that red medicine? You know, the liquid stuff?"

"Er, sure… Got to go, I can't work this thing and drive," Zenigata sighed and began to back out of the driveway, and tossed his cell phone aside as he went to find the nearest drug store.

"That got rid of him for a little while," Max shut off his mother's phone and then kneeled down in front of her. "Please don't cry, Mom…"

Natasha was too much of a wreck to realize exactly what she was saying to her son at this point, "You know if this gets out that there are people who will never talk to us again. And your father! G-d love him, how are you going to even tell him?"

"I don't know," Max grasped his mother's hands and muttered. "I guess… I won't…."

"I don't understand."

"You're right about yours and dad's reputation; I can't go taking that away from you guys. You both worked too hard for the respect you receive now… I'd just screw it up. I… You can go ahead and pull me out of that school…"

"Max, I love you so much, that's why I don't want a hard life like that for you," Natasha kissed her son briefly and sighed. "Why don't you go to sleep now? It's been a long night for both of us, and I need to make a call."

Max nodded, rose and slunk out of his parents' room; he would have to call Jake later and sort everything out for good. Natasha, meanwhile, picked up her phone and began to dial.

Lupin had the misfortune of being the lighter sleeper between himself and Fujiko, and felt around on his nightstand before picking up his phone, "Who in the hell is this? Goemon, if this is you, I don't care HOW high as a kite you are on those pain killers right now, get off and call Jigen!"

"Me," Natasha answered in a shaking voice. "Can we talk?"

"Is everyone okay there?" was the first thing Lupin asked quietly as he sat up in bed, sure not to wake Fujiko as she slept. He walked out of their room and down the stairs, passing Ari as he did so. His son gave a confused look, and Lupin simply shrugged; he had no idea what was going on, either.

"Yeah, we're fine… No one's hurt," Natasha muttered.

"Then is someone after you guys? I can be on the first plane out, you know that," Lupin seated himself in the kitchen after going down to the wine cellar and picking out his glass and one of his cheaper brands.

"It's not that," Natasha answered. "I just… I need someone to talk to about this, and you're the only one who wouldn't relay this back to Koichi…"

"…It's Max again, isn't it?"

"I caught him with another boy," Natasha wept.

"Natasha, quiet, it'll be okay," Lupin sighed in a reassuringly manner. "I thought Zenigata had finally found out about us for a second, I was about to have a heart attack."

"I just… I had no clue, and I come in, and he's there, and—"

"Listen, a lot of kids his age experiment with that kind of stuff."

"So, you're saying you did?"

"Whaaa! I, urm… Heh, I'm strictly for ladies only," Lupin said with a chuckle. "Although I've had some pretty nice offers over the years… And I've gone as far as marrying a guy, b-but that's as far as it goes."

Ari, who was outside the doorway spying on his father, choked at this news, and slowly crept up the stairs, knowing that if his mother were mad enough at his father she'd easily leak him the details of this strange comment. For now, though, after all of this, sleep was needed.

"I just… His and his father's relationship is strained already… This will do them in for sure," Natasha sighed.

"Listen, I know Zenigata better than I know my own father; he'll be a little shocked, yeah, but he'll still love Max for who he is. Hell, if he can get along with me with all of the stuff I've done to him over the years, having a kid who bats for both teams will be nothing!"

"I… I guess… Still, I won't say anything. I found Max and his friend in our room—"

"Ouch. Burn your sheets," Lupin said jokingly.

"—And I don't think he'd like to know about that… I'll let Max tell him when Max is ready," Natasha added. "But until then I think I can at least persuade him into maybe rethinking this."

"Natasha, people are born that way, it's been proven," Lupin sighed. "It's okay, I had a gay sister before my brother killed her off, too."

"You're not the one who has to deal with two very traditional families," Natasha replied quickly. "It's different because Koichi and I come from those kinds of backgrounds—I have family members who ignore my husband and refer to him as 'that Oriental'!"

"Well, what can I say, I'll be happy when that generation finally dies off," Lupin chuckled. "You just need to get some sleep, or maybe send Max over here for a little while to maybe going fishing—He just has to stay away from my son, hee hee."

"Heh, I could only imagine if Ari or Fuji came out to you… Fujiko would have to peel you off the ceiling."

"Fuji I'd almost prefer it," Lupin said darkly. "I just caught her going out with a guy Jigen's age last week… Ari, though, yeah, I'd flip. It's different for him because he's got a family name to carry on. And if I have to settle down and have a kid to carry on the family name, then he has to be miserable, too, damn it!" he added jokingly.

"So I suppose I was wrong about you not being traditional…"

"Traditional doesn't mean you go around in a kimono drinking sake and playing a koto, like some of us do. Jigen's got Mafia traditions that he'll keep no matter how hard he tries to distance himself from his past, Goemon's got his kooky wacko Japanese ones, and I've got my own that I stick to."

"Hrm, yeah… Say hello to the wife and kids for me, Koichi's home, and he gets jealous when I talk to other men… He's so insecure."

"That's Zenigata for you… Well, if I weren't me I'd be jealous of my good looks, too," Lupin chuckled. "See you later, Natasha."

"Good night, Lupin," Natasha hung up the phone just as her husband walked into the kitchen, and embraced him tightly after rising.

"Oh, boy, who died now?" Zenigata was used to Natasha behaving this way whenever a family member passed on, and she would usually mourn for a few days afterward. In a mainly military family in the Middle East, Natasha was in mourning often.

"No one; I just needed this," Natasha answered quietly.

Upstairs in his room, Max was on his bed in a corner of the room, his forehead resting on his knees. He was trying to fight off the mixture of embarrassment and disappointment, as well as the fear that crept over him at the thought of his father finding out.

He nearly jumped out of his bed when his cell phone went off, and was quick to answer it, "H-Hello?"

"Max?" Jake's tired voice was on the other end of the line.

"Jake!... Hey…"

"Your mom isn't mad at me too bad, is she?"

"Eh, she'll be okay… She was just shocked, is all. I don't think it'd be safe to come around for a while, though, in all honestly."

"I don't think she'll have to worry about that."

"Hm? Why not?"

"I'm getting married," Jake answered hesitantly. "That's what I came to tell you… I met a really nice girl, who lives in Romania."

"…" Max nearly dropped his phone, and gave a small choke, "M-married?"

"Ummm… Yeah…." Jake sighed heavily. "It's more of a business move for my family, but, I really like her, Max, I really do. She's a sweet girl, I think you two would get along."

"So, if you like her, what in the hell did we just—"

"I guess that was like my last blast before I went through with it… I've been fighting with myself, you know, wondering exactly what I was… I'm sorry that it had to be you, though… I feel like a jerk over it."

"No, no… It's fine," Max sighed and clenched his jaw. "I'm glad we did it. I… I hope you two are very happy together. I wish you the best, Jake."

"M-Max, are you—"

"I'm going to go to sleep now," Max said quietly. "Good night, Jacob. Good bye."

"Goodbye, Max."

A few months later:

"So he's going to try his hand at the police force?" Lupin was seated in his living room, his former nemesis drinking along with him.

Zenigata gave a nod, "I know he's not happy with it, but I don't know where else to put him. He's smart enough to speed through high school in two years, but he doesn't want to go to college… He's a headache, even if I do love him."

"Hey, your kids always give you a hard time," Lupin laughed and watched as Fujiko entered. He smiled, sprang up and kissed her. "Helping the kids pack?"

"Mm-hm… Max is putting the bags in the car while Ari finishes his disguise," Fujiko seated herself at the kitchen table and took a sip from Lupin's glass.

"And Fuji?"

Fujiko gave a sigh, "Trying to figure out what to wear."

Max, in the upstairs near the bedroom, had finished putting the bags Ari had forgotten about in the SSK in the front of the house. He had not seen Ari in years, and Lupin's son was still a bit of a recluse when compared to his sister, so Max had yet to see him in the large house.

He passed by Ari's room and noted the door was slightly cracked, and there was a figure rummaging about in it.

"Hello?" Max called. A young man a few years older than him, already in disguise, turned about at the noise and blinked a few times in surprise.

"Umm…. Hi," Ari set down the makeup brush and snapped the case it had come from shut. "You must be the Zenigata kid."

"I'm not a kid," Max snapped. "You must be Lupin. It's been a while."

"Lupin's my dad," Ari adjusted his wig in the mirror and picked up his suitcase. _'Wow, he really short…'_

"You say that like being called Lupin's a bad thing," Max smirked. _'He really is stuck-up…'_

"I'm sure you don't like being called by your last name, either," Ari quickly shot back. "My dad said you're joining the police force. Good luck with that."

"Heh, good luck with me actually getting a job in the force."

"What, are you crazy?" Ari inquired.

"Is that really your business? My dad's crazy and he was a great cop…. Besides the whole catching your dad thing."

"Ari, we're going to be late," Fuji stuck her head in the doorway and smirked at Max. "Oh, I see you have company, hee hee…"

"Get your mind out of the gutter," Ari ordered. "Why would you even joke about that, Fuji? I've got a girlfriend."

"Yeah, who's at the airport."

"Crap!" Ari gasped and picked up his bag, and quickly walked over to Max and shook his hand. "It was great meeting you, gotta go, see you around!"

"Yeah, see ya," Max muttered and watched as Ari stumbled out of his room, "….How in the hell is he Lupin's kid?" he shook his head and looked around a bit, looking at the numerous books on shelves. He picked up a small stuffed animal of a monkey a smirked. "I'll bet under that mask he looks like a monkey."

He set it back down and looked about the room, placing his hands in his pockets, "Jeeze he keeps a clean place… Now if he could do math maybe I'd overlook the whole thief thing and I could use him for his organizational skills."

"Max, we're leaving!" Natasha shouted.

"Coming, Mom!" Max switched off the light and closed Ari's door behind him, and gave a small sigh. In a way he was jealous of Lupin's son. He was a thief as his father had been, and Lupin was proud of him. Max felt, however, that he had already done enough damage to the point where his father would never be as proud as him as Lupin was of his son. He was a failure in his father's eyes, although Zenigata would never admit to it.


	5. Time to Go?

DISCLAIMER: Yukiko's mine, the concepts mine… About all that isn't mine is Jigen : \ So, yeah, I own a good majority of it, lol.

NOTE:

This story was originally entered into a Lupin fanfic contest (I didn't win, but oh, well), and it's basically a simple story of Jigen and Yukiko bonding. It takes place after the first story I wrote (The Picture, the Promise, and the Protectors) when Yukiko's about seven years old. Yeah, I know that there's not real mention of Jigen's visual problems in the story, but I wanted to make this short as possible, and not have to go into details about his going blind. So, hope you enjoy this extra l'il snippet Catch ya'll later!

--Lucy

Time to Go?

By J. Lucy-Daisuke

He hated himself for wishing he'd sometimes been left with a son instead. But he would never tell her this. He was lucky enough to have her, even if it had been unplanned and come as a complete shock to him when she had arrived on his doorstep fresh off of the Japanese airplane. He wondered if this was how her mother had felt when he had left her unknowingly pregnant nearly seven years ago.

"You think someday I'll have a gun like that, Jigen?" she inquired as she stumbled down the hill beside her father, the older man gripping on her shoulder to steady her every once in a while. 'Dad' was still bizarre sounding to both of them, so 'Jigen' was good enough for the time being. She couldn't even call him anything with affection, it had to be the same thing his drinking buddies and Lupin called him.

"Maybe someday, kid, but until then, let's stick to BB guns. I'm almost afraid to let you around real bullets… Hehehe, me and both of your uncles." He rubbed the sore area beneath his suit; the right shoulder, the one he had been shot in the night before. He didn't want to scare her with it, so while she slept the night before Goemon worked to hold Jigen down while Lupin extracted the bullet and stopped the bleeding. He was still shaky, though, and he even tripped once as he took her down to the shooting range. This was where they did most of their bonding.

"Fujiko says you're gonna shoot your ass off like that if you keep your gun in your belt like that," she said with mild worry as she glanced up at him.

"No way… She's bit so much off over the years, there's nothing left to shoot off," he muttered as they stopped in front of their targets and he set down the case that held her BB gun. Shit, he'd forgotten to remind her not to curse again. How the hell was he supposed to catch every curse word? She'd get away with it for the rest of the weekend, and then Monday he'd start to put his foot down.

Monday he also had another heist with the rest of the gang; and who had time for parenting when there was a Munch painting to steal? He'd start Tuesday, then.

"Let's get you at fifty yards today…"

"I can do seventy-five!" his young daughter, Yukiko, moaned, giving him the look her mother had often given him.

"Fine, hotshot, let's start you at seventy-five…"

He stood a small distance from her and then silently watched as she fired a shot, and he raised his fedora to survey the damage; no paternity test needed, she definitely was his.

"See, I _can_ start at seventy-five!"

"Don't get cocky just yet; wait until you're trying at five-hundred yards," Jigen was quick to add, pulling out his own gun and making sure the chambers were loaded before closing it and spinning it around, then taking aim at the target. He looked out of the corner of his eye, but only for a moment, and caught sight of a doe not too far from the targets that had wandered out of the nearby German forest. He shrugged this off and figured the stupid thing would know to take off running, and then pulled back the trigger.

The gun went off, and the dear went running, but Jigen also fell to the ground, and not by his own will. He landed hard upon the injured arm, and gave a shudder of pain, then sat up on the ground and looked at the terrified Yukiko, who had run a few yards away and now looked at her father, her eyes wide.

"What in the Goddamn friggin' hell were you Goddamn thinking!?" Jigen snarled, not paying attention to his fedora, which now went sailing with a gust of wind while Yukiko stood, shaking in fear. "Were you trying to kill me?! Why'd you push me down like that?!"

"I… I… I didn't!"

"Then who in the hell did, Casper the friendly Goddamn ghost !?" Jigen snapped, but immediately felt a pang in his gut as he saw she was shaking more violently now, and in addition to this, sobbing.

"I… I didn't want you to shoot the deer!" Yukiko shouted amidst the tears while Jigen looked at her, stunned.

He had gotten the same sick feeling when he had begun to kill professionally years ago; he hated it, and after not feeling it for so long, he felt like he could throw up at any moment. It was guilt, something he hadn't felt in quite some time. He couldn't even remember the last time he had felt it, but it came on full-force now.

"Yuki… I…" he looked down at the ground, then upward at the little girl, who now sat in a curled little ball on the grass, her face hidden from him but her sobs loud. He stood, and hobbled over to her as he clutched onto his wound, not quite sure what to do at first but then awkwardly attempting to embrace her. She only pushed him away, and then again came that guilt feeling.

"…I…. You could've killed us…" he started sternly, and already began to mentally kick himself for saying it. "And I don't want you hurt."

"I didn't want us to die, but I didn't want that deer to, either!"

"I wasn't _gonna_ shoot it…"

"But… You shoot people…." Yukiko sniffed. Jigen went cold; Christ, he'd been wishing she wouldn't find out.

"B… Because they're bad…"

"If they're bad, then why do _we_ get chased all the time? The bad people get the nice houses and everything, and we don't have any of that! I can't have goldfish, or friends, and I always have to wear disguises and stuff!"

"….You…. Ya got me there, Yuki…" this called for a cigarette. He pulled one out of his pack but didn't go to light it, just yet. Instead he sat behind her and pulled her over to him, embracing her and then rocking her slowly; he had seen this done in a movie once before.

"And… And in Japan, I went to school and… And I could go to parks, and there wasn't any mean cop chasing us!"

"Zenigata's not mean, he's just… Touched… Yeah, I guess that's the word for it…" Jigen muttered, thinking this was the mildest way to say "deranged". "So you… You want that sort of stuff?"

"I dunno, I… I like traveling and seeing new places, and…. I like seeing animals like penguins and giraffes and dolphins, and not seeing them just in zoos… And I like Lupin and Goemon and Fujiko…"

"Yeah, you've got a thing for Goemon going…" he said with a smile and a chuckle. He had seen it several times, but the samurai was clueless about girls, although at times Jigen was convinced Goemon would've made the better father of the two.

"…Do not…" she answered, wiping her eyes with her arm and still not looking upward at him.

"Do too… You wanna marry him. What, you wanna kill me and make him my son-in-law? Jesus, might as well push me over while I'm shooting again."

"I don't wanna marry him!" Yukiko huffed, hitting him in the ribs with her elbow slightly.

"Sure you don't…. Yuki, I… I'm sorry… I'm just a shit parent who had a shit parent. You ask me to sink a sub, wear a dress, shoot at the moon, I can do it… Heh, I just suck at this."

"You wore a dress?"

"You're too young for that story," Jigen answered quickly. "Now, do you wanna stop and have me get a home for us?" and then another nauseous feeling filled him, and that feeling was named commitment. "We could get goldfish, have you go to school… Whatever you want…."

"Would I get to see Goemon and Lupin and Fujiko?"

"Honestly? ….Probably not as much… And I'd have to get a j… I'd have to get a job," he choked upon the last word, wondering what skills he had beyond shooting and some bartending. From ace gunman to bartender and single father in six months; and he had thought that Elvis had fallen from grace…

"So… We wouldn't spend as much time together?"

"Well, no… And we'd have to stay there, we probably couldn't travel that much… But, erm… We could get you what, eh? A dog, a backyard, a--"

"A mom?" she could feel Jigen tense up at this, but she patted his arm, and looked upward to him, "Like… A lot later on…"

"Maybe when you get married," Jigen answered quietly.

"Nah, I don't wanna…"

"What the hell am I gonna tell Goemon, then?"

"Nothing, 'cause I don't! And you tell and I'll tell Fujiko that you like her!"

"And therefore get Lupin on my ass. Jeeze, he'd kill me for that! Listen, I've faced friggin' Russians and won against them, I ain't gonna get rubbed out by someone who watches _Hello Kitty_." He lifted the little girl up and then took the case with her gun in it, and after shoving his own gun in his belt he began to walk back up the hill with the little girl in tow.

"I don't wanna stop traveling just yet, then," she muttered into his jacket, and gave another sniff.

"…You ever get tired of this, you just tell me, Yukiko. I don't know how the hell we'd do it, but we'd manage," Jigen said to her as they continued back to the hideout where they stayed at while Zenigata looked for the gang frantically across town.

"Nah… Not yet…" Yukiko yawned, and looked upward at him tiredly. "…You lost your hat…."

"Eh, I've got a ton of them," Jigen shrugged. "We'll just let someone pick that up, and let them have a free hat, all right?"

"All right… And Jigen?"

"What's up, Kiddo?"

"I don't need a mom right now," she said quietly, clinging onto him tightly. "I like traveling with you guys… I'm sorry I said that..."

"It's not a kid's life," Jigen answered as he noted she was growing even more tired as they continued down the hill and back to the safehouse. "…I miss her, too…"

"How'd you guys meet, anyway?"

"It's a long story, and it involves me being your mom's bodyguard and us…. Eh, she's the only other one I would've left the crooked life for."

"…Who else?" she yawned, resting her head against his chest.

"Heh, well, you were the one I was promising goldfish to just a little while ago," Jigen answered with a chuckle. "I miss her too, but… We'll be okay… We've got Lupin, and Fujiko, and Goemon. Even Zenigata's got a soft spot for kids. Hell, from what I heard he's got one of his own… Or did. Who the hell knows? But we've got them. Now, you get to sleep, I… I've got a little bit of work to do." He walked her into the bedroom and then into the main living area of the hotel, and seated himself in one of the cheap hotel chairs.

He rubbed his eyes tiredly, and could feel his wound aching once more. If he had thought shooting dignitaries from long-range had been hard, he had been wrong. How the opera singer then girlfriend he had been forced to abandon years before was able to do it on her own all those years, he had no idea. She had been the strongest of the two of them.

"Are you drunk again?" he heard in a monotone and slightly accusatory voice. Goemon leaned forward and poked Jigen gently with the sword sheath, to which the gunman looked upward tiredly. "…You look like hell…"

"Well if it isn't the king of perception?" Jigen raised his head and looked over Goemon, then leaned back in the seat.

"I heard a shot before…"

"Yuki and I were shooting, and… Yeah, long story short I almost died at the hands of my six-year-old and I think she's terrified of me now."

"From your drawn out answer I'm assuming you're in need of counseling for it," Goemon seated himself beside the gunman with his arms folded and his eyes shut.

"You wanna head to Canada and get married?" Jigen muttered, then glanced over to Goemon, who now sat in the chair, but with his sword drawn for protection and a stunned expression on his face. "It's a joke… Put it away, friggin' homophobe… All I'm saying is she seems to like you more as a parent."

"Although I adore your daughter, there isn't enough tea in the world to get me to…"

"Heh, you're just uptight about it because you know you'd look better in the dress," Jigen murmured. "What am I gonna do with her, Goemon?"

"…Raise her how her mother would have seen fit."

"If her mother saw how I was raising her she would've fixed me so I wouldn't be able to have any other kids."

"Are you sure you don't?"

Jigen merely gave a could glare to the samurai, "At least I don't have to count skipping out on child support like Mr. can't-keep-it-in-his-pants Lupin."

"He's fond of saying that there's no DNA evidence to support those claims."

"Yeah, explain why those little brats look like _Curious George_, then."

"A cruel God," Goemon quickly counted.

"Can't be that cruel; Yuki looks like her mom, after all… You think I should get married?"

"As long as it's me."

"What's your hang up with that?!"

"You brought it up," Goemon replied. "Why the sudden urge to lay your ground?"

"Lay my…. I'm not gonna go there with some guy who probably hasn't even _felt_ some good ground," Jigen murmured. "This ain't the life for a kid, Goemon."

"You mean like I've told you forty-two times?"

"Forty… You need to get laid man, seriously," Jigen shook his head and brushed back his hair.

"You're starting to go gray."

"You know, I always feel so friggin' great when I talk to you, Goemon! Thanks, I'm gonna go hang myself, now, if you excuse me!"

"You're getting older, Jigen. I'm not exactly saying that you should go find a bride, but perhaps consider beginning to cut back a bit before…."

"Before what?"

"Before she stops hating this life and accepts it as we have," Goemon answered solemnly. "She should have her chance to be a child. It's not only what right for her, it is perhaps the best."

"She said she didn't wanna leave."

"Then she's either appeasing you or we're too late."

"Heh, you could be right. You'll be a good mommy someday," Jigen patted him on the back and smirked at Goemon's annoyed expression.

"You're much too cheap for my tastes, Jigen," Goemon muttered.

"Heh, yeah, and I prefer someone with an ass," Jigen countered, then stood from his chair. He heard his cell phone ring its familiar chime then suddenly, and sighed as the caller ID showed that Lupin was in dire need of a gunman's assistance once more.

"I'll take that," Goemon stood and grabbed the cell phone from Jigen on his way to the door. "Watch after your daughter…. Hello, Lupin? He's occupied at the moment. You're… You're where?"

"Hey, Goemon. Thanks," Jigen nodded, and Goemon returned this small nod, and then turned his attention back to the phone.

"I hope you know that you'll be billed for my plane ticket," Goemon continued as he headed out the door with his sword in hand.

Jigen smirked and shook his head, turning around just in time to see the tiny Asian girl in the light blue dress yawning and rubbing her eyes as she leaned against the doorway, "You're not going with him?"

"Nah, not this time," Jigen lifted her up and headed back into the bedroom. "I owe him big time, though… Maybe a barrel of pickled radishes. Yuk, you really want to keep this up, or…?"

"Yeah. I'm not ready to say bye to Lupin, Fujiko, or Goemon yet…"

"Thank God," he sighed in relief as he laid her back on the bed. Yukiko gave a small laugh at this, and Jigen walked to the closet and pulled out one of his many fedoras.

"So we're gonna keep traveling?"

"Yeah, Kid… We're gonna keep traveling," he replied as he placed the fedora on his head and turned to her.

"Good… 'Cause you can't cook," Yukiko yawned and settled down on the bed and closed her eyes.

"I'll figure out what to do someday, Kid…" Jigen leaned over and covered her with the heavy hotel comforter. "Until then, we'll be fine… We've got a good set up here…"

"Yeah we do," Yukiko yawned, and Jigen tilted his fedora down over his eyes after standing. He headed out of the bedroom, not exactly sure what he was going to happen to either him or his daughter, but glad that at least they had a family.

"Yukiko, if you're smart, you'll take after your mother," Jigen muttered, taking his seat in the living room once again, this time on the couch, and lighting another cigarette.


End file.
